After netting three against PSV on Tuesday, Lionel Messi has now scored eight hat tricks in the Champions League -- more than any other player. But which has been the best so far?
8) APOEL 0-4 Barcelona -- Nov. 25, 2014
If you look back over Messi's European trebles, the thing that stands out is the sheer quality of the goals. However, his hat trick against APOEL is the exception. After sticking out a leg to deflect Rafinha Alcantara's shot past Urko Pardo to double Barca's lead on the night, he poked home in the area after latching onto a through ball. Messi then rounded off the scoring with a tap in from close range following good work from Pedro Rodriguez.
7) Viktoria Plzen 0-4 Barcelona -- Nov. 1, 2011
Messi won and converted a penalty to open the scoring in Plzen, with Marian Cisovsky subsequently sent off and the floodgates opening. Barca's second goal also came via Messi when he played a neat one-two with Adriano before firing past Roman Pavlik. Cesc Fabregas added Barca's third before Messi completed the scoring (and surpassed the 200-goal mark for Barcelona) by rounding Pavlik.
6) Barcelona 7-0 Celtic -- Sept. 13, 2016
Celtic never stood a chance at Camp Nou. A Barca side accused of "Messi-dependence" had become one spearheaded by Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez and the three South Americans destroyed the Scottish champions. Barca's first two goals came via Messi. Neymar set both up, with the opener a particularly nice move which ended with a hammered finish into the top corner. Neymar and Andres Iniesta added the next two before Messi finished from close range after exchanging passes with Suarez, who then scored the home side's sixth and seventh.
5) Barcelona 4-0 Manchester City -- Oct. 19, 2016
The first time Pep Guardiola returned to Camp Nou in the opposite dugout, Messi effectively knocked his Bayern Munich side out of the Champions League. Eighteen months later, Guardiola returned with City, but the result was the same: Messi domination. The Argentine seized on Fernandinho's slip to turn home Iniesta's pullback after starting the move himself. After Claudio Bravo was sent off, Messi then led the rout, firing low past Willy Caballero from the edge of the box before completing his hat trick from close range after Suarez had capitalised on Ilkay Gundogan's misplaced pass.
4) Barcelona 4-0 Ajax -- Sept. 18, 2013
It's hard to pick which one Messi's trio of goals from this game was the best. He broke the deadlock with a stunning free kick, which nicked Kenneth Vermeer's post on the way in. For his second goal, he then cut in from the right before hammering past Vermeer again. After Gerard Pique's effort, he then completed his hat trick: controlling the ball on the edge of the box, he feinted to shoot one way but then cut the ball back into the other corner, almost like a golfer on a putting green.
3) Barcelona 4-0 PSV Eindhoven -- Sept. 18, 2018
Curiously, five years to the day after tearing one Dutch team apart, Messi did the same against another Dutch side, Eredivisie champions PSV. And, once again, his first goal was another, as coach Ernesto Valverde called it, "magisterial free kick." You couldn't have placed the ball any more in the corner using your hands and a step ladder. Messi then dispatched Ivan Rakitic's lofted pass with a clinical first-time finish, before wrapping things up with another well-taken goal late in the game.
2) Barcelona 7-1 Bayer Leverkusen -- March 7, 2012
Messi became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League game as Barca went to town on the Bundesliga side, racking up a 10-2 win over two legs. Two of Messi's five goals, his first and third, were via that chipped finish he trademarked earlier in his career (one with his left foot, the other with his right after an exquisite touch to bring down a long Fabregas pass). There was also a goal via a dart in from the right, a tap-in after linking with Pedro and a smart finish from the edge of the box.
1) Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal -- April 6, 2010
Messi's quadruple against Arsenal eight years ago was not just jammed with quality, but also packed with importance. After a 2-2 draw in the first leg, Nicklas Bendtner had given the English side the lead in the tie at Camp Nou.
Enter Messi. An unintentional one-two with Mikael Silvestre preceded a powerful finish to get Barca back into the game. Messi then started a move which he finished after timing his run perfectly to latch on to Pedro's pass, taking a brilliant first touch before turning the ball past Manuel Almunia.
The show continued with a chipped finish over Almunia as the hat trick was brought up before the break. Xavi Hernandez then played Messi in for his fourth. After teasing Emmanuel Eboue, Thomas Vermaelen and Gael Clichy for what must have seemed like an eternity to Arsenal fans, he fired home at the second time of asking.