Champions League

Barcelona 7-1 Bayer Leverkusen

By Jack Prescott, Rugby Editor | 07 March 2012

Five goals from Lionel Messi give Barcelona an emphatic 7-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Nou Camp.

Five goals from Lionel Messi have given Barcelona an emphatic 7-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Nou Camp.

The win has seen the reigning European champions progress with an 10-2 aggregate triumph over their German opponents.

Messi put his side ahead on 25 minutes when he dinked the ball over the goalkeeper.

It was 2-0 before the break as the Argentine danced around the Leverkusen defence before firing in.

Messi claimed his eighth hat-trick of the season soon after the interval with another chip, while substitute Cristian Tello got on the scoresheet in the 55th minute with a cool finish.

Messi bagged his fourth soon after as he rifled in from a tight angle before Tello neeted for a second time just after the hour.

The rout was completed in the final five minutes thanks to Messi's curled shot into the corner.

On a humiliating night for the visitors, Bayer responded in injury time through Karim Bellarabi's superb strike.