Top 10 most iconic Lionel Messi performances of the decade

#3 Champions League 2011-12 Round of 16 second leg: Barcelona 7-1 Bayer Leverkusen

With Barcelona having won the Round of 16 first leg game in the 2011-12 Champions League away at Leverkusen, it was always going to be an uphill task for the Bundesliga outfit in the return leg at the Camp Nou. And so it proved.

Messi opened the scoring for the hosts midway through the first half. He scored his second of the game before the break as Barcelona took a commanding 2-0 lead on the night and a 5-1 lead on aggregate.

Far from easing off, Messi converted a pair of Cesc Fabregas assists to complete his second Champions League quadruple at the hour mark. Five minutes from time, Messi became the first player in history to score 5 goals in a Champions League game as Barcelona recorded the most lopsided Round of 16 aggregate win (10-2) in the history of the competition.

#4 2012 International Friendly: Argentina 4-3 Brazil

Messi exults after scoring one of his 3 goals against Brazil

Although the game being a friendly meant that the stakes were low for both South American giants, nothing can be taken away from Messi's performance that day.

After Romulo had opened the scoring for Brazil at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, Messi restored parity at the half-hour mark. And three minutes later, he provided Argentina the lead for the first time in the match.

Brazil fought back through respective second-half goals from Oscar and Hulk to reclaim the lead, but it was Messi and Argentina who had the last laugh. Federico Fernandez hauled the Albiceleste back into the game and five minutes from time, Messi's first hat-trick for Argentina resulted in a win for the two-time World Cup champions.