Fulsome praise poured in for three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi after he set a record by scoring five goals in a Champions League game.
Messi delighted the watching world by banging in five for rampant Barcelona on Wednesday, as they slaughtered hapless German side Bayer Leverkusen to book their habitual place in the quarter-finals.
Until Wednesday’s exhibition, Messi shared the record of four goals in a game with Marco Van Basten, Dado Prso, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Andriy Shevchenko.
As soon as the impish Argentine shuffled off the Camp Nou field on Wednesday – with the ball under his arm and his usual unassuming, modest smile on his boyish face – the praise started.
Manchester United star Wayne Rooney led the charge, writing on his Twitter account: “Messi is a joke. For me the best ever.”
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao asked: “Is Messi a real player or a Play Station character?”
Barca coach Pep Guardiola struggled to find words to describe Messi’s performance, finally saying: “We have just seen one of his most special nights.
“It is not easy to score five goals.
“We are very fortunate to have him with us and to be able to enjoy him. On the day that he chooses, he will score six.”
Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt, for his part, commented: “There are really no words to describe his way of playing. He is an extraordinary class. Even without Messi, Barca are the best team in the world, but with him they are from another galaxy.”
Before the game, Franz Benckenbauer – Bayern Munich’s honorary president and one of European football’s elder statesmen – said: “Messi is a genius, he has everything. On the one hand, he is very skilful and intelligent, with a left foot like Diego Maradona.
“On the other hand, he has some of the things of Bobby Charlton, in the sense that he is a real gentleman.”
Messi’s five-goal display was front-page news in practically every Spanish newspaper on Thursday.
Catalan daily Sport raised eyebrows by revealing that before the game, the little Argentine was suffering from a headache and had to take an aspirin – “The Aspirin of Miracles”, according to Sport.
