Lionel Messi has been doing so many extraordinary things for so long that nobody can be surprised he marked the exact week of his arrival in Barcelona, 18 years ago, with a brilliant hat-trick in Tuesday’s 4-0 home win against PSV Eindhoven.
MATCH AS IT HAPPENED
Such is his majesty – a word coach Ernesto Valverde used to describe the Argentinian’s 32nd-minute free-kick that made it 1-0 against PSV – that he has drained his team-mates of descriptive powers.