'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Lionel Messi is an enigma like no other. His predestined nature of providing thrilling performances, game after game, is now very much a part of our reality; like the law of gravity.
A lot has been written and a lot more has been said following the snub he rather undeservingly received from UEFA for the Player of the Year award. The lad didn't even make it to the short-list.
Let's forget about the fact that he won the LaLiga and the Copa Del Rey almost single-handedly, and the fact that Barcelona never lost a game in the Spanish top-flight when he was on the pitch for them. The one game, the final game of the season, that he didn't feature in, his side lost - ending the possibility of an unbeaten season in the league at the very last hurdle.
However, there is a reason why so many not following the cult of Barcelona, which admittedly tends to not incite the purest of devotions, take exception to such, for the lack of a better word, blasphemy in the name of the biggest football federation in Europe.
And as is often the reason why those of us covering the game come out so fervently in support of the little man, Messi added another milestone in his unending, and quite frankly ridiculous, list of achievements after he found the back of the net, thrice, against PSV Eindhoven in the very first game of the most elite competition in the world this season.
The hattrick has now put the 5-time Ballon d'Or above the Premier League Champions on goals scored in the competition. Let that sink in for a minute, Lionel Messi has scored more goals in the Champions League than a team which broke the goal-scoring record for England last season.
He now also has the record for the most number of hattricks in the competition's history with 8; one ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the Champions League, Leo Messi has now scored more goals than Manchester City and PSV Eindhoven:
Messi: 103 goals
PSV: 102 goals
Man City: 101 goals
Since the start of the season, Messi has found the net twice in two games each and has now followed that up with a hattrick. 7 goals and 3 assists, and the man has only played 5 games. Write him off at your own peril.
