Barcelona vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Watch Lionel Messi's Record-Setting 5-Goal Game

Hat tricks are for mortals. If you are Lionel Messi, you do things far better than anyone before you, and with the style and swagger that is befitting of the Barcelona star. On Wednesday evening, Lionel Messi set the Champions League record with five goals against Bayer Leverkusen. 

Barcelona came into the second leg contest against Bayer Leverkusen with a 3-1 aggregate advantage. 

The Catalans were expected to cruise and Messi was targeted to be the favorite as man of the match, but this is silly. It's ridiculous. Dare, I say...It was Messi. 

There are moments that you just sit back and take in the wonderment of sport. Michael Jordan fighting off the flu to beat the Jazz, Kobe Bryant dropping 81 points and now this. 

For a moment, I had to recall whether this was some exhibition game I was watching on re-run. Messi was far too dominant and Bayer Leverkusen far to befuddled to do anything about it. 

We present before you the highlights from Wednesday's Champions League between the haves and the have-nots. 

The world belongs to Barcelona at the moment, and the king is Lionel Messi, a player that is living on an entirely different plane of existence. 

The Catalans continue to milk every last drop from the superstar. At some point, you expect him to drop from exhaustion. 

We can hardly condone him being overworked, but we can't stand to watch any pitch on which he is not featured. Messi truly owns the world, and we are all merely paying rent. 

I will be here shaking my head until the next fixture. 

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