Lionel Messi: Best Hat-Tricks of His Career
By Dani Garcia
March 7th 2012.
Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a UEFA Champions League game as Barcelona claimed a record knockout round victory, 10-2, against Bayer Leverkusen. The European champion FC Barcelona advanced to semi-finals for the fifth year running, where they afterwards lost against Chelsea.
On November 25th 2014, three days after breaking La Liga all-time top goal scorer record, Messi became the all-time leading scorer in Champions League history. The Argentinian master had. after a hat-trick in Nicosia. 74 goals (75 now), surpassing Raúl Gonzalez’s previous record of 71. Cristiano Ronaldo sits close with 72. Against Apoel he scored his first hat trick with his right leg. He has 11 goals with that leg in the Champions League, 59 with the left leg, and 4 headers. Leo led the Champions League in scoring in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Messi scored 42 goals in 110 matches before Pep Guardiola era (1 every 176 min.) Messi with and after Pep’s command is 348 goals in 348 matches (1 every 83 min.). That’s 348 goals in the 348 games Messi has played since June 2008, when Pep Guardiola took over Barcelona.