Matchday 12 - Player of the Round

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

When it comes to Lionel Messi, I don't mind repeating myself. Just because he won last time, it doesn't make him ineligible for the Player of the Round accolade for a second week running. Messi was the outstanding player of matchday twelve, scoring a hat-trick and assisting two Bojan goals in Barcelona's historic 0-8 hammering of Almeria at the Juegos Mediterraneos. The Argentine forward is not the favourite to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award this year because the trophy is expected to go to a world cup winner - or if not a Spaniard, probably a finalist called Wesley - but he deserves it.