Lionel Messi became Barcelona's all-time record goalscorer while scoring a hat-trick on a night when the Catalan giants survived a scare against Granada to move within five points of Primera division leaders Real Madrid.

Messi broke the club record of 232 official goals set by Cesar Rodriguez during the 1940s and 50s when he coolly lobbed home his second of the match in the 67th minute to put Barca back in the lead after Granada had fought back from two down to 2-2.

Barca substitute Cristian Tello then added a fourth before Messi completed his eighth hat-trick of the season in the 86th minute to put his side 5-2 ahead.

There was still time after that for Granada, who had cancelled out early strikes from Xavi and Messi with second-half goals from Diego Mainz and Guilherme Siqueira, to pull another goal back when Siqueira slotted in his second penalty of the night after Dani Alves had been sent off.

However, Barca had already done enough to claim the win that puts further pressure on Madrid, who face a potentially tricky trip to Villarreal tomorrow night.

Passion, Dedication, Commitment, Desire, Energy. I don't think there is anyone who can say Chelsea lacked even one of these. Chelsea put in a performance they can be proud of.

Just for viewers entertainment, Khelo Pakistan presents pitures of some famous football coaches/managers when they were players themselves. This list contains Alex Furguson, Arsene Wenger,Vicente Del Bosque, Felipe Scolari and many more.

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At the age of only 24, Lionel Messi has surpassed many records in club football playing for Barcelona.

The Ballon d’Or winner for strikes late in the evening for Barcelona against Bayern Leverkusen to make it 19 in the knockout stage to break former Real Madrid striker Raul’s score of 18 goal in his knockout stage matches in Champions League.

On Valentine’s day Messi gifted himself a gift in shape of record for highest goals in knockout stages of UEFA Champions League, here in Germany against Bayern Leverkusen.

The knockout stages of UEFA Champions League 2011/12 are starting today with Bayer Leverkusen taking on Barcelona and Lyon hosting APOEL Nicosia. So lets see how some teams reached this stage and some dropped out.

The January transfer window has now closed for English Premier League. At the start of the year everyone expected a few changes to the clubs but we've had a quiet month which isn't bad for the league as Football Pundits would say 'the league has stabilized. With no ''big'' names changing places Chelsea was the only top club to bring in a few players. Top five transfers:

Papiss Demba Cisse -- (£10m) -- from Frieburg to Newcastle United 
Kevin De Bruyne -- (£7m) -- from Genk to Chelsea
Gary Cahill -- (£7m) -- from Bolton to Chelsea
Nikica Jelavic -- (£5.5m)  -- from rangers to Everton
Lucas Piazon -- (£5m) -- from Sau Paulo to Chelsea

Barcelona and Real Madrid on way of eight possible meetings in 2011-2012, which would make another El-Clasico crazy season for the fans. Both teams have won the first leg of their Copa Del Rey Pre-Quarter-Finals and are likely to meet in the Quarter Finals if they beat their opponents in the second leg or even if they took the match to a draw then their would surely be a Clasico Quarter-Final.

Fans said last season was crazy because of non-stop El-Clasico encounters in which Real and Barca met four times in 18 days of end of April and few days of May, total 6 times in last season and a total of 7 times in Calendar of 2011.

But if that was crazy, then you are surely going to get crazier as more El-Clasico action coming up this season.

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Barcelona showed a splendid performance to prove the gimmick of being the best in the world by beating Santos with a margin of 4 goals to become the Club World Cup Champions for the season 2010-11 here in Japan.

Two goals from Messi and one each by Xavi and Fabregas helped the Spanish and European Champions of last season to become the World Champions second time in three years.

Also, the star for Barcelona in this match, Lionel Messi claims his personnel award beating Neymar (Santos) and Xavi (Barcelona) to become Club World Cup player of the tournament.

A Champions League exit was unthinkable for Manchester United, but the unthinkable became a reality on Wednesday after losing 2-1 at Basel. United went into the game needing only a draw to assure progress but flopped as they missed a couple of glorious chances and lapsed at the back at crucial stages.

Sir Alex Ferguson described the exit and a entry to the Europa Cup as a punishment but on Friday softened his stance saying he was looking to win the sliverware. And why not? A trophy is a trophy and a run the Europa could help United's momentum in the chase of another Premier League title.

Where do United go from here? Is a question asked by many and has different answers from most. Many believe a central midfielder is needed, someone that can take the game from the scruff of the neck and dictate it at his own will. The problem would be finding that player, not many are that quality and even fewer are available.

Here are some of the key points, that United need to do, in my opinion, to help chase arch rivals City:

1. Captain Namanja Vidic is out injured and Rio Ferdinand is prone to get injured. United need to settle a back four. Though Ive never been convinced by Patrice Evra's ability as a defender he will have to show experience at left back. Smalling should be employed as a centre half, in his best position, as soon as one of the Da Silva Twins are back.

Manchester United Defeated By Basel

Manchester United was eliminated from group stages of Champions League following a defeat in Basel by the home side. In last sixteen years Manchester United have faced this disgrace 3^rd time as they were shocked by an incredible performance by Basel. Last time they were sent out of group stages in 2005.

Basel was always on top as Marco Streller gave host side a ninth minute lead. Man United though never gave up and kept attacking on Basel’s goal and the best chance of the day for Manchester was missed by Wayne Rooney who later faced a UEFA disciplinary committee and faced a two match suspension opting him out of the first two matches of Euro 2012.

Early Exit for City despite of Convincing Victory

Manchester City’s maiden Champions league came to an end despite of a convincing victory over Bayern Munich. The result making City compete in the second-tier Europa League in the New Year.

David Silva and Yaya Toure struck as City kept their little hope alive of qualifying from Group A that were later turned down as Napoli defeated Villarreal to progress in the Knock out stages ahead of Manchester City.