Lionel Messi becomes first player to score five goals in single Champions League match

The Argentina international is celebrating a major milestone in his career after bagging five goals against Bayer Leverkusen in Uefa's premier club competition on Wednesday

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has become the first ever player to score five goals in a single Champions League match following Wednesday's 7-1 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou

Five goals from Messi, plus two from Tello, gave the Catalan club a 10-2 victory on aggregate after a 3-1 win in Leverkusen in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

The Argentina international had scored four goals against Arsenal in 2009-10, equalling the record of the likes of Marco van Basten and Simone Inzaghi, both of whom netted four times in a Champions League match.

Players with the highest number of goals in a single Champions League match:

Goals	Player	Country	Date	Match
5	Lionel Messi	ARG	March 7 2012	Bayer Leverkusen - Barcelona
4	Bafetimbi Gomis	FRA	December 7 2011	Dinamo Zagreb - Lyon
4	Lionel Messi	ARG	April 6 2010	Barcelona - Arsenal
4	A. Shevchenko	UKR	November 23 2005	Fenerbahce - AC Milan
4	R. van Nistelrooy	NED	November 3 2004	Man. United - Sparta Praha
4	Dado Prso	CRO	November 5 2003	Monaco - Deportivo la Coruna
4	Simone Inzaghi	ITA	March 14 2000	Lazio - Marseille
4	Marco van Basten	NED	November 25 1992	AC Milan - IFK Goteborg

Messi has now taken his tally to 12 goals in Europe this season, equalling Ruud van Nistelrooy's 2002-03 record for the most number of goals in a single edition of the Champions League.

The diminutive attacker, who is eight goals away from becoming Barcelona's all-time top scorer, is six goals ahead of Mario Gomez in the Champions League scoring charts.