Graphic: Five magic Lionel Messi moments
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi made it five of the best again his week when he took home the Ballon d'Or award this week for the fifth time.
Messi has already won the biggest individual accolade in world football on more occasions than anyone else.
He claimed it for the first time in three years, after being part of a Barca side that secured five titles in 2015.
His exploits are too numerous to mention, but Matt Wilson has somehow whittled down his achievements to five best career-defining moments.
1 TEENAGER TURNS HAT-TRICK HERO IN EL CLASICO – MARCH 2007
Three times Madrid took the lead at the Camp Nou, and three times a 19-year-old Messi responded.
The third was the best of the lot, picking up a raking Ronaldinho pass in the final few moments of the game and speeding past tired Madrid defenders.
Fabio Cannavaro, then-European Player of the Year, was humiliated over and over again throughout the match.
2 MESSI DOES A MARADONA – APRIL 2007
A month later, Messi announced himself to the YouTube generation with a goal eerily similar to Maradona's famous one-man dribble at Mexico 86.
Even though this was against Getafe in the Copa Del Rey rather than England in the World Cup, the quality of close-ball control was still remarkable.
Somebody has mashed the two goals together and it's a must-watch.
3 LEAPING INTO THE RECORD BOOKS – MAY 2009
He'd never scored against an English side before and he was too small to be good at heading. So what did Messi do?
He scored a header against Manchester United on the biggest stage possible, the Champions League final.
Barca dominated the whole match and ran out easy 2-0 winners. Messi picked up his first Champions League medal after refusing it in 2006, because he was left out injured.
4 BARCA HUMILIATE THE OLD ENEMY – MAY AND NOVEMBER 2009
Messi scored two goals when Barcelona beat Real Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu in May.
Although he didn't score any of the five Barca put past Madrid just a few months later in November, he was credited with orchestrating the whole demolition.
It struck a chord with Barca fans, because it mirrored the famous 5-0 humbling Johann Cruyff's dream team handed to Madrid back in the 1973-74 season.
5 NEUTRALISING NEUER IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – MAY 2015
It's the first leg of the Champions League semi-final and Barcelona are poised at 0-0 with 13 minutes to go against Pep Guardialo's Bayern Munich team. Cue Messi.
First, he pings one in from the edge of the box with no backlift that catches Manuel Neuer out at his near post.
Three minutes later, he puts David Alaba on his backside before deftly lifting the ball over Neuer with his 'weak' right foot.
Neymar adds a third in injury time and the tie is already won before the trip to Munich.
