Lionel Messi reaches 50 hat-tricks as a professional

An exhibition by Leo Messi led FC Barcelona to a 2-4 victory at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuán, and the three goals from the best player in the world saw him reach a new milestone; the fiftieth hat-trick of his incredible career.

Of these 50 hat-tricks, Messi scored 44 for Barça and six with the Argentine national team. His first was against Real Madrid in a clásico at the Camp Nou on March 10, 2007. Since then, in 43 other games, he has scored at least three goals.

29 at the Camp Nou

If we analyse the 44 hat-tricks for Barça, the captain has scored 29 at the Camp Nou and 15 away. Thus, Vicente Calderón, Heliodoro Rodríguez López de Tenerife, La Romareda, the Estadio Juegos Mediterráneos de Almeria, the Synot Tip Arena de Plzen, La Rosaleda, ABANCA-Riazor (x2), Mestalla, the Santiago Bernabéu, Vallecas, the City of Valencia and Sánchez-Pizjuán have seen three goals from Messi in the same game.

Hat-tricks, pokers... and a five-goal haul!

The voracity of the Argentine striker has no limits, and five times in his career he's scored a poker (four goals) in the same game (Arsenal, Valencia, Espanyol, Osasuna and Eibar). He has also managed five goals in the same match on one occasion; against Bayer Leverkusen on March 7, 2012, in the return leg of the Champions League Round of 16.