#4 Lionel Messi (2006)
While there was no doubt that Lionel Messi was going to take the footballing world by the storm, given his performances at a very young age, it was actually in the 2006-07 season, in which he did suffer a troubling injury, he rose to prominence as one of the best players in Europe. It was the first time he broke the 10 goal mark as a player and one of his most memorable performances came in the game against Real Madrid late in the season despite the game finishing in a stalemate.
It seemed like a battle between two supremely talented players when Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s goals were equalised twice by Messi in the first half. However, Sergio Ramos scored in the middle of the second half to bring despair to the home fans and the match was headed towards a loss for the Catalan giants before Messi ensured that the points were split in the 90th minute by scoring Barcelona’s third equaliser.
Messi became the first man in 12 years to score a hat-trick in the El Clasico and that day is deemed by many as the day that the legend of Lionel Messi was truly born.
