Well, check both of those off.
With another mesmerizing performance, Messi helped defending champion Barcelona crush Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 Wednesday night to advance to the quarterfinals with a 10-2 aggregate win, reports The Associated Press.
“Without Messi, Barca is the best team,†Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt said. “And with him, they are in another galaxy.â€
The three-time FIFA player of the year scored in the 25th, 42nd and 49th minutes for a 3-0 lead and his 17th career hat trick for Barcelona, then added goals in the 58th and 84th minutes for the first five-goal game of his professional career.
“We’ll never see a player like him again,†Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “He is one of a kind.â€
The last time a player scored five goals in European soccer’s top club competition had been when Ajax’s Soren Lerby did it against Omonia in the old Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1979-80.
“Messi is a joke. For me the best ever,†Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney wrote on Twitter.
And in Cyprus, APOEL Nicosia extended its improbable run in the Champions League after a pair of saves from goalkeeper, Dionisios Chiotis gave the Cypriot club a 4-3 penalty shootout victory over Lyon for a place in the quarterfinals.
Chiotis made two nearly identical saves by diving to his left to block penalties from Alexandre Lacazette and Michel Bastos while APOEL converted all four of its own spot kicks to stun the French club.
The game finished 1-0 to APOEL after regulation for a 1-1 aggregate score, and neither side could break the deadlock in extra time, despite the hosts going down to 10 men when goalscorer Gustavo Manduca was given his second booking with six minutes left.
Chiotis’ final save set off wild celebrations as APOEL’s historic run reached another milestone. Players embraced on the field, while chanting fans poured out into the streets as the din of blaring car horns echoed throughout the capital.
Police cordoned off the intersection outside the APOEL clubhouse in the Nicosia’s downtown area as hundreds of fans clad in the team’s colour, orange, staged an impromptu street party complete vendors offering corn on the cob. Orange flares and fireworks were set off, saturating the air with thick smoke. Chanting was occasionally drowned out by the blaring horns from two semi trucks bedecked in APOEL flags.
APOEL had already become the first team from this tiny east Mediterranean island to advance to the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition, and few had expected them to overcome the French powerhouse.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/messi-apoel-make-uefa-league-history/110966/
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