Champions League: Barcelona 7 Bayer Leverkusen 1

Lionel Messi scored a record five goals to help Barcelona past Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 in their Champions League clash on Wednesday.

The Catalan giants sealed a 10-2 aggregate victory to advance into the quarter-finals of the European competition, with Champions League debutant Cristian Tello adding a brace to Messi’s brilliant tally.

Barca had control of the match from the early stages of the match, and Messi nearly put his side ahead after 11 minutes after being played into the box by Cesc Fabregas, only to be foiled by Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who pushed the Argentine’s shot around the post.

Xavi was next to threaten Leno’s goal, with free-kicks on 13 and 24 minutes causing trouble, but Leno was on hand to keep out the midfielder’s attempts.

Leverkusen’s fortunes eventually turned on 25 minutes, when Messi latched onto Xavi’s chipped ball before lifting his finish over Leno and into the net with relative ease.

In the 42nd minute, Messi had time and space to fire an unstoppable finish into the lower-left corner, doubling the hosts’ advantage and putting the tie beyond any doubt before half-time.

Five minutes after the break, Messi completed his hat-trick with another phenomenal finish. After receiving Fabregas’ ball over the top, the 24-year-old created just enough space to shoot, and again chipped his finish, leaving Leno with no chance.

Tello joined the fray as a substitute on 55 minutes, and within seconds found himself at the end of a Fabregas flick on, with which the Spain Under-23 forward struck into the net.

The 20-year-old made it two goals seven minutes later, as he received the ball in a similar position, and again beat Leno with a low strike.

Messi grabbed his fourth in between Tello’s goals, making him the first player in history to score four goals in two separate Champions League games during his career. The Ballon d’Or winner was initially halted by Leno, but the shot-stopper spilled the ball, allowing Messi to casually slot home from an acute angle.

Barca rested on their lead for much of the final half-hour, while Leverkusen offered little resistance as the hosts dominated possession. Five minutes from the final whistle, however, Messi scored a brilliant fifth, bending his strike from the edge of the box just inside the left post.

The Argentine’s tally was the greatest-ever for a player in Europe’s elite competition, and raised his count to 48 goals in 42 games.

Leverkusen would get a strike at the death as Karim Bellarabi played a 1-2 with Simon Rolfes before striking a hard finish to the far post, but it was little consolation for Leverkusen, whose defeat equalled the worst-ever result for a team in one leg in the round-of-16.