2012: Messi Scores Five

On This Day in Sports: March 7, 2012

On March 7, 2012, Lionel Messi scored five goals as Barcelona defeated Bayer Leverkusen 7–1 in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. No player had previously scored five times in a single match in the competition’s modern Champions League era. Barcelona advanced 10–2 on aggregate, but the larger story was the variety and apparent ease of Messi’s finishing at Camp Nou.

Messi opened the scoring by delicately lifting the ball over the goalkeeper after receiving a pass behind the defense. He added a right-footed finish before halftime, completed his hat trick with another chip, then scored twice more after the break. The goals came from different angles and distances, demonstrating close control, timing and calm rather than relying on one repeated route to the net.

Barcelona’s possession and movement continually pulled Leverkusen out of shape. Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fàbregas helped create spaces between the lines, while Messi drifted from a central starting position into whichever channel offered an advantage. Substitute Cristian Tello scored Barcelona’s other two goals, making the final score even more emphatic against a side that had entered the night with a realistic hope of competing.

The five-goal performance became one of the defining displays of Messi’s peak years. He finished the 2011–12 season with a record 73 goals for Barcelona in all competitions and won another Ballon d’Or. Later players matched the five-goal Champions League total, but Messi was first to establish it in the modern format, turning an ordinary knockout return leg into a reference point for individual attacking brilliance.