3 memorable performances come to mind for different reasons:
1.) Messi 2015 vs Bayern
Game was super close for 75 minutes without goals with both teams not being really that close to winning until suddenly Messi had his Thanos “fine i’ll do it myself” moment and destroyed Bayern with 2 goals in a few minutes one of them being considered one of his most iconic (the one where Boateng slips during Messis dribble)
2.) Neuer with Schalke vs Manchester United 2011
While Neuer had shown some incredible performances in the years prior (e.g. versus Porto) this game arguably immediately put him into the "okay he is the best goalkeeper in the world position.
The entire game it was a manchester united stampede towards Neuer. Schalke was completely outmatched and minute after minute Rooney, Valencia and Co had massive scoring opportunities but it did not matter what they tried Neuer was always there to save the ball.
Shortly before half time Manchester United scored a clear offside goal which was disallowed but still had massive ramifications as one ManU player said after the game (forgot who)…“it showed us it was actually possible to put one behind Neuer”.
It took until almost the 70th minute that ManU finally scored and in the end they won by 2:0 even though it should have been at least 7:0 if not higher with ManUs onslaught resulting in 16 big goalscoring opportunities.
Neuer got a 1,0 grade (1 being highest 6 lowest) while the second best player in his team got a 4,5 if i remember correctly but the highest praise came from Sir Alex Ferguson himself who stated after the game that he has never seen a better goalkeeper performance.
3.) Schweinsteiger in the 2014 Worlc Cup Final versus Argentinia
It was not a great usual performance by Schweinsteiger where he scored multiple goals or dribbled multiple times through the opposing team. Hell he probably didn’t even have a big goalscoring opportunity (I cannot remember one at least).
However, what Schweinsteiger had that day was 100% determination and commitment. He was injured before and during the world cup already and would normally i(f it wasn’t a world cup final) never have played …the coach even said so after the game that it was a big risk and all doctors advised that he should not play because it might negatively affect his career.
Still he played and the Argentinian team knew he was the real captain on the pitch (not Lahm) and the guy in control of the German game. So the Argentinian players specifially targeted Schweinsteiger for the entire game with fouls and more than once Schweinsteiger went down but got up again.
In the end Schweinsteiger could barely walk , looked as if he just went 12 rounds with Klitschko in a boxing fight but he managed to mostly neutralize Messi over the course of 120 minutes and with his presence on the pitch and his enduring willpower to continue on it was palpable that the Argentinian players were “impressed” and somehow even though it doesnt make sense you just had a feeling as a German fan that you would win that game even though it was incredible close and Argentinia was arguably better or at least overall.
It was the ultimate “mind over matter” performance from Schweinsteiger and he never 100% recovered from the injury and while still having some good games in the following seasons he was never again peak himself.
Funny thing is Uli Hoeneß Said that they miscalculated when they build Allianz Arena and could have easily made the satdium for 80-100k people and it would still be easily sold out (almost) every game