Messi to win second consecutive FIFA World Footballer of the Year! with Rooney comes in second :)
Messi to sink Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabeu!!!
Messi to win second successive Champions League with Barcelona! :D
Messi to win La Liga league with Barcelona for second year in a row!!
and.........
Messi to guide Argentina to their first World Cup title in 24 years!!!!!
One-man scoring machine
Next up for the Lionel Messi show - Osasuna.
Messi has been a one-man scoring act with his second hat trick inside eight days keeping Barcelona in the Spanish league race as the defending champions kept pace with Real Madrid on top of the standings with 68 points.
Messi leads Spain with 25 league goals and has 34 in all competitions after notching his fifth career hat trick in Sunday's 4-2 win at Zaragoza. His form has inspired suggestions that the 22-year-old is on course to becoming one of the all-time greats, alongside the likes of his Argentina coach Diego Maradona.
Coach Pep Guardiola said he'd run out of superlatives to describe Messi.
"He's so good that it's impossible for him not to be so involved in so much of the play," Guardiola said. "He's been one of the chosen ones for some time now."
The biggest question for Wednesday's opponent Osasuna is how to stop Messi after his dominating performance at La Romareda, where even the home fans were out of their seats.
Messi scored with his head before a highlight reel run that he called one of his greatest and added the second with a defender who he left on the turf with his quick feet tugging on his shorts. He took his third from a quickly taken shot that curled past goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez.
"I have no doubt that you can compare him (to Maradona) and that he's even better. He's so young and he has a fabulous future ahead," defender Daniel Alves said. "Let's hope he keeps on like this."
Barcelona president Joan Laporta called Messi the best player in the history of football, even if Messi hasn't been able to carry over that form into international play with Argentina.
"I don't know what the secret with Messi here is," Guardiola said. "I know that at Barca he's comfortable and that he's also the one who most wants to triumph with Argentina."
While Barcelona shines with Messi, the form of Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo appears less inspired.
Madrid had to rally to beat Sporting Gijon 3-1 on Saturday.
Ronaldo has scored 15 league goals but the team is out of the Champions League and the league title is its only focus. It next plays in a derby match against Spanish capital neighbor Getafe on Thursday.
The contrast between the two teams is underlined by the behavior of their top players. Ronaldo has argued with teammate Xabi Alonso over penalty duties this year, while Messi let struggling striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic take Sunday's.
"What matters to me are trophies at the group level," Messi said. "The league and the Champions League are more important awards than individual ones."
Meanwhile, Sevilla will be without winger Jesus Nava (ankle) for up to four weeks and Diego Capel (leg) for at least 10 days as it prepares for Tuesday's game against last-placed Xerez.
Xerez has won two straight to give the team hope in its battle to avoid the drop although it is still eight points back of 17th-placed Zaragoza. Sevilla is winless in six with two straight losses to slump to fifth in the standings.
Valencia is without a number of injured regulars for Wednesday's game against Malaga as it looks to consolidate third place. Valencia is four points clear of Mallorca, which plays bottom-of-the-table Racing Santander. - AP
Video link: Messi sinks Zaragoza
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