Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi broke the 39-year-old record for goals scored during a European club season with his hat trick during Barcelona's 4-1 victory over Malaga on Wednesday night. Messi's third goal of the night was his 68th of the season, breaking the previous single-season record of 67 set by Bayern Munich's Gerd Muller in 1972-73. After converting penalty kicks in the 35th and 59th minutes, the 24-year-old Messi chipped goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, knocking the ball into an empty net in the 64th minute for his ninth hat trick of the season.

The Champions League final will feature two German teams for the first time after visiting Bayern Munich completed a surprising 7-0 rout of Barcelona. Playing with a big cushion after a 4-0 win in the first leg at home last week, Bayern beat Barcelona, 3-0, in the second leg Wednesday night on goals by Arjen Robben in the 48th minute and Thomas Mueller in the 76th around Gerard Pique's own goal in the 72nd. Bayern, which relaxed when it saw injured Lionel Messi wasn't in Barcelona's starting lineup, is in the final for the third time in four years and will play Borussia Dortmund at London's Wembley Stadium on May 25. "I think it is a terrific performance, it is a little bit of history," Robben said.

A Japanese jeweler is selling a solid gold replica of soccer star Lionel Messi's left foot -- the one that has made the Argentine star the best player on the planet. But it will cost you: The asking price for the 55-pound statue is $5.25 million. The detailed golden foot -- the statue is complete with blood vessels and swirls of skin on the bottom of the toes -- was created by Tokyo-based jeweler Ginza Tanaka to celebrate Messi's unprecedented Ballon d'Or award in January. Messi is the only player in history to win the FIFA player of the year trophy four times -- and his wins came in consecutive years.

Maybe it was a passing of the torch. Or maybe it was just two ships passing in the night. Either way, you can be sure Cristiano Ronaldo is well aware of the turn his career has taken since he and Lionel Messi tangled in the 2009 UEFA Champions League final. Ronaldo, then the reigning world player of the year, came into the match having led Manchester United to three consecutive Premier League crowns and the previous year's Champions League title. Messi, meanwhile, was finishing his third season as a first-choice forward for Barcelona.

The Turkish Airlines' commercial starring Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi, soccer's player of the year, has become the "most-watched [ad] ever on YouTube," according to AdWeek. The spot beat out the Angry Birds cinematic trailer and Evian's Roller Babies commercial. The original video, embedded below, has already climbed to almost 102 million views. In the clip, Bryant and Messi compete for the attention of a young boy, who ultimately opts for ice cream over either sports star's antics.  The "behind the scenes" clip is at a more modest 100,000 views, but shows Bryant and Messi on set as they shoot the spot.

Lionel Messi said on Thursday when he signed a two-year contract extension that he envisions playing only for FC Barcelona while in Europe. Messi, 25, also believes he'll end his playing days in Argentina. "I have said before that as far as Europe goes I would like to end my career at Barcelona,” the club's all-time leading scorer said. “I don't think about playing for any other team on the continent. That said, I don't rule out ending my playing career in Argentina.” The four-time reigning FIFA world player of the year who joined Barcelona as a 13-year-old and made his first appearance with the powerhouse at 17, is now under contract through 2018, when he will be 31 and at the end of his prime.

Lionel Messi will score at least 540 more goals and be named world soccer player of the year seven more times before his time with Barcelona comes to an end. Well, that's what will happen if he sticks to this year's record pace of 90 goals (and counting) and continues his streak of three -- undoubtedly soon to be an unprecedented four -- straight player-of-the year awards while playing out his newly extended contract with the Spanish powerhouse. Messi, 25, agreed to a new contract with Barcelona on Tuesday that will lasts until June 30, 2018, the club said in a statement.

Lionel Messi is considered by most soccer experts to be the best player in the world today, yet it's safe to assume a majority of Americans have never heard of him. Well, allow us to show a little video evidence to everyone out there as to why you should get to know him. During Barcelona's loss to Real Madrid in the 2012 Supercopa, Messi scored an amazing goal off a free kick. As you can see in the video above, it looks as if even some of the players on the field couldn't believe he scored.

Turkish Airlines released a commercial that features Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi competing for a kid's attention. The enviable kid walks back and forth on an airplane as Bryant and Messi each try to impress him. Messi kicks the ball in place, using some fancy footwork. Bryant responds by passing the ball through his legs over and over again as they're extended in the air. And so on and so forth. It's pretty amusing. Who does the kid choose? He eventually walks away from both men to eat some ice cream.

Anything Wayne Rooney can do, Lionel Messi can do twice as well. That was the message coming out of Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium Wednesday after Messi, the Argentine star, scored two goals and assisted on another to power defending champion Barcelona to a 4-0 European Champions League victory over VfB Stuttgart in Spain. Messi, 22, could have netted a hat trick but was denied a third goal by Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's superb save as the former German international dived low to his left to make a one-handed stop on Messi's downward header.

A Japanese jeweler is selling a solid gold replica of soccer star Lionel Messi's left foot -- the one that has made the Argentine star the best player on the planet. But it will cost you: The asking price for the 55-pound statue is $5.25 million. The detailed golden foot -- the statue is complete with blood vessels and swirls of skin on the bottom of the toes -- was created by Tokyo-based jeweler Ginza Tanaka to celebrate Messi's unprecedented Ballon d'Or award in January. Messi is the only player in history to win the FIFA player of the year trophy four times -- and his wins came in consecutive years.

Lionel Messi said on Thursday when he signed a two-year contract extension that he envisions playing only for FC Barcelona while in Europe. Messi, 25, also believes he'll end his playing days in Argentina. "I have said before that as far as Europe goes I would like to end my career at Barcelona,” the club's all-time leading scorer said. “I don't think about playing for any other team on the continent. That said, I don't rule out ending my playing career in Argentina.” The four-time reigning FIFA world player of the year who joined Barcelona as a 13-year-old and made his first appearance with the powerhouse at 17, is now under contract through 2018, when he will be 31 and at the end of his prime.

Lionel Messi, a one-man highlight reel each game, scored four goals in a 5-1 victory for FC Barcelona on Sunday, the fourth time he's pulled off that feat as a pro. The pint-sized striker from Argentina continues a scorching scoring pace that has him ahead of last year's record-setting run, when he ended the season with a Spanish-league record 50 goals. Messi, 25, leads La Liga this season with 33 goals in 21 games, with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo a distant second with 21 goals.

The Turkish Airlines' commercial starring Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi, soccer's player of the year, has become the "most-watched [ad] ever on YouTube," according to AdWeek. The spot beat out the Angry Birds cinematic trailer and Evian's Roller Babies commercial. The original video, embedded below, has already climbed to almost 102 million views. In the clip, Bryant and Messi compete for the attention of a young boy, who ultimately opts for ice cream over either sports star's antics.  The "behind the scenes" clip is at a more modest 100,000 views, but shows Bryant and Messi on set as they shoot the spot.

Argentina's Lionel Messi and U.S. national team star Abby Wambach were named winners of FIFA's 2012 male and female players of the year awards Monday during world soccer's annual gala in Zurich. For Messi the award was his fourth in as many years, making him the first man to win the award more than three times. And he did so in record-breaking fashion, scoring 91 times for Argentina and his club team in Barcelona. Other finalists included Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid and Spain's Andres Iniesta, who is also Messi's teammate at Barcelona.

Kobe Bryant's video for Turkish Airlines with Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi has reached 90 million views on YouTube. An airborne Bryant and Messi compete for the attention of a young boy, escalating to the absurd until ice cream trumps both stars' antics. Bryant has represented Turkish Airlines for a number of years.  He's also a soccer buff and fan of Messi. The video was initially published on YouTube on Dec. 6, garnering an impressive number of hits in a scant 2-1/2 weeks.

Lionel Messi took his scoring prowess to yet another level on Wednesday, becoming the first player to net five goals in a Champions League game as host Barcelona thrashed Bayer Leverkusen, 7-1, to ease into the quarterfinals. The defending champions already led 3-1 after the first leg and the three-time world player of the year put the result beyond doubt by scoring twice in the first half. Messi added three more after the break, and substitute Cristian Tello had two goals as the Spanish champions advanced 10-2 on aggregate.

Lionel Messi will score at least 540 more goals and be named world soccer player of the year seven more times before his time with Barcelona comes to an end. Well, that's what will happen if he sticks to this year's record pace of 90 goals (and counting) and continues his streak of three -- undoubtedly soon to be an unprecedented four -- straight player-of-the year awards while playing out his newly extended contract with the Spanish powerhouse. Messi, 25, agreed to a new contract with Barcelona on Tuesday that will lasts until June 30, 2018, the club said in a statement.