Five-Star Messi

He’s the first player in the history of the Champions League to score five goals in one game.

The Argentine has scored 29 goals in the European competition.

Messi, despite his sublime display, was humble after the match: “The most important thing is that we won, that’s what we wanted”.

Leo Messi wears the number 10 on the back of his jersey, but against Bayer 04 Leverkusen this evening he put in a Five Star performance. The Argentine scored five goals; two in the first half, three in the second. His brilliant display broke long-standing European records. But Messi, despite his unworldly performance, remains humble. “The most important thing is that we won, that’s what we wanted,” he said when he was told that this was the first time in a player managed to score five goals in one game.

Here are some interesting facts and stats about Leo Messi in international competitions:

• Messi is the first player in the history of the UEFA Champions League to score five goals in one game
• He’s the first player in the history of the European Cup (in all formats) to score five goals at this stage of the competition
• The Argentine has scored 12 goals in this edition of the Champions League, the same amount that he scored last season (he was the tournaments highest goal scorer)
• It’s been a year (March 8th, against Arsenal) since Messi has scored at the Camp Nou in the Champions League
• Messi is the second Barça player in the history of the Club to score five goals in a single European match (Zaldúa did it on October 6th, 1965)
• With his five goals, Messi is only seven away from being the Club’s all-time highest scorer (235)
• He’s the first player to ever score five goals in the Champions League for a team that plays in the Spanish League
• Messi is the 11th player to score five goals in a Champions League match (the last plaeyr to do it was Lerby, with Ajaz, in 1979 against Omonia)
• Messi’s 49 goals in the competition see him level with Alfredo Di Stefano as the sixth highest goal scorer in the history of the competition
• Of his 49 goals in the Champions League, 25 were scored at the Camp Nou, and 22 away from home; 2 of them were scored in finals
• He’s scored 54 goals in international competitions: 49 in the Champions League, 4 in the Club World Cup and 1 in the European Super Cup. (via FCBarcelona.com)