In a milestone night for Messi in which he wore the Barcelona shirt for the 700th time in his illustrious career, he marked it with a vintage performance against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League as the hosts won 3-1 at the Camp Nou.
After controlling the first third of the match, the deadlock was broken for Barca after Messi stepped in to the centre outside the box before reversing a neat pass into the feet of Luis Suarez, who scored with composure.
Then, he got on the scoresheet himself with a vicious finish into the bottom corner.
There has been a lot said about the relationship, or lack of one, between Messi and Antoine Griezmann so far this campaign, but they were a good tandem for the third as the Barcelona captain slid a pass down the left channel for his French colleague to lash into the bottom corner.
Messi also sent 35 passes into the final third on the night and successfully completed 11 dribbles - four more than anyone else in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Lionel Messii's profile, statistics and career information
