The UEFA Champions League’s Round of 16 stage produced yet another exciting night with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi stealing the spotlight away.
In 2010, Messi joined legends Puskas, Di Stefano, Van Basten and Simone Inzaghi in the list of players to net 4 goals in a single European encounter. However, no player had ever scored as many as 5 goals in a Champions League match until Lionel Messi set the record on Wednesday, March 7.
La Pulga took the stage by storm in a game which Barcelona could have afforded to lose 2-0 thanks to their 3-1 first-leg advantage. The illustrious player put the Catalans 2-0 up at the break thanks to a couple of unstoppable shots. He completed his hat-trick in the 49th minute and matched his four-goal record against Arsenal with another strike in the 58th minute.
This happened in between Tello’s brace. Lionel Messi, who didn’t play last weekend due to suspension, made the most of his energy to complete his feat 6 minutes from time as Bayer Leverkusen went home with a 10-2 aggregate defeat in the bag.
“Messi is a joke. For me the best ever,” Wayne Rooney wrote on his Twitter account in response to the Argentine’s achievement against Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile, coach Pep Guardiola made the following statement:
“I want the entire Camp Nou to pay homage to him the way he deserves and acknowledge all his merits. I will always be able to say that I coached Messi.
“He teaches us to compete and with his behaviour. The throne belongs to him and it is only up to him to decide when he leaves it.”
With his quintuple on Wednesday night, the Barcelona forward hit 12 goals. That’s a goal every 52.5 minutes and twice more goals than second-placed Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich. It will be very difficult now for any player to chase Lionel Messi in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League’s top scorers chart.
Seydou Doumbia, Alexander Frei, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edison Cavani have all scored 5 goals thus far. Lionel Messi’s closest rival in world football, Cristiano Ronaldo, has scored 4 goals in 450 minutes of UEFA Champions League action.
Lionel Messi is the reigning European and world player. With this kind of terrific form, the Argentine is poised to retain his title.
Meanwhile, APOEL stunned French giants Olympic Lyon in the night’s other game. The team from Cyprus overcame pressure to win 4-3 on penalties after the game ended 1-1 in 120 minutes of football.
Goalkeeper Dionisis Chiotis was the hero on the night, saving Michel Bastos and Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty kicks. Coach Ivan Jovanovic branded March 7 as “the most important night in APOEL’s history” but Olympic Lyonnais key player Kim Kallstrom spoke to UEFA.com afterwards to express his disgust at the situation:
“It is the worst way to go out. Over the two games, I think we should have scored more at home [in the first leg]. Today, it was much more balanced.
“And when it comes to the penalty shootout anything can happen. We're in a tough situation now. But we'll fight to be back.”
Half of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League quarter-finalists have been revealed. APOEL join Barcelona, Benfica and AC Milan on the list.
La Pulga took the stage by storm in a game which Barcelona could have afforded to lose 2-0 thanks to their 3-1 first-leg advantage. The illustrious player put the Catalans 2-0 up at the break thanks to a couple of unstoppable shots. He completed his hat-trick in the 49th minute and matched his four-goal record against Arsenal with another strike in the 58th minute.
This happened in between Tello’s brace. Lionel Messi, who didn’t play last weekend due to suspension, made the most of his energy to complete his feat 6 minutes from time as Bayer Leverkusen went home with a 10-2 aggregate defeat in the bag.
“Messi is a joke. For me the best ever,” Wayne Rooney wrote on his Twitter account in response to the Argentine’s achievement against Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile, coach Pep Guardiola made the following statement:
“I want the entire Camp Nou to pay homage to him the way he deserves and acknowledge all his merits. I will always be able to say that I coached Messi.
“He teaches us to compete and with his behaviour. The throne belongs to him and it is only up to him to decide when he leaves it.”
With his quintuple on Wednesday night, the Barcelona forward hit 12 goals. That’s a goal every 52.5 minutes and twice more goals than second-placed Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich. It will be very difficult now for any player to chase Lionel Messi in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League’s top scorers chart.
Seydou Doumbia, Alexander Frei, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edison Cavani have all scored 5 goals thus far. Lionel Messi’s closest rival in world football, Cristiano Ronaldo, has scored 4 goals in 450 minutes of UEFA Champions League action.
Lionel Messi is the reigning European and world player. With this kind of terrific form, the Argentine is poised to retain his title.
Meanwhile, APOEL stunned French giants Olympic Lyon in the night’s other game. The team from Cyprus overcame pressure to win 4-3 on penalties after the game ended 1-1 in 120 minutes of football.
Goalkeeper Dionisis Chiotis was the hero on the night, saving Michel Bastos and Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty kicks. Coach Ivan Jovanovic branded March 7 as “the most important night in APOEL’s history” but Olympic Lyonnais key player Kim Kallstrom spoke to UEFA.com afterwards to express his disgust at the situation:
“It is the worst way to go out. Over the two games, I think we should have scored more at home [in the first leg]. Today, it was much more balanced.
“And when it comes to the penalty shootout anything can happen. We're in a tough situation now. But we'll fight to be back.”
Half of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League quarter-finalists have been revealed. APOEL join Barcelona, Benfica and AC Milan on the list.
