On This Day: Messi became the first player to score FIVE goals in one UCL game

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (March 7th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, feel free to post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On this day in 2012,  Messi became the 1st player to score 5 goals in an UCL game

Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a UEFA Champions League match, helping defending champions Barcelona crush Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 to advance to the quarter-finals with a 10-2 aggregate win.

The World Player of the Year turned in a virtuoso display, finding the net twice before the break and three times in the second half with substitute Cristian Tello bagging a brace alongside the Argentine's individual brilliance.

On this day in 2001, Lionel Messi wore Barcelona colours for the first time

Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment.

During his first year in Spain, Messi rarely played with the Infantiles due to a transfer conflict with Newell's; as a foreigner, he could only be fielded in friendlies and the Catalan league.

On this day in 2009, Neymar made his professional debut

Neymar made his professional debut on 7 March 2009, despite being only 17 years old; he was brought on for the last thirty minutes, in a 2–1 win against Oeste.

He was supremely confident even then, placing faith in his obvious talent developed in the futsal arena and on the street and honed by the same Santos youth system that produced Pele. Just eight days later Neymar scored his first senior goal in a state match against Mogi Mirim.

On this day in 2007 - Bayern's Roy Makaay scored the UCL's fastest goal

On 7 March 2007, Bayern Munich's Roy Makaay scored the Champions League's fastest goal when he netted against Real Madrid after only 10 seconds.

The match was the second leg of the Round of 16. Real Madrid won the first leg at the Bernabéu 3-2, but Bayern's two away goals would prove to be crucial.

The goal crushed the previous record of 20.07 seconds, set by Arsenal's Gilberto Silva in a 2002 match against PSV Eindhoven.

The match ended 2-1 to Bayern after they got a second-half goal from Lucio (66') and Madrid got a late penalty from forward Ruud van Nistelrooy (83'). Even at 3-3 on aggregate, Bayern advanced on away goals (but lost to Milan in the quarterfinals).

Goal gif

On this day in 1959 - Inter boss Luciano Spalletti was born

Born in Certaldo, Province of Florence, Spalletti played for Serie C teams such as Entella, Spezia, Viareggio and Empoli.

Spalletti's early career in management led him to struggling Empoli, where he was head coach between July 1993 and June 1998. He led the Tuscan side to consecutive promotions from Serie C1 to the top-flight Serie A. Such success for a traditionally unexceptional side with limited resources attracted the attention of Roma. The capital side had come off a disappointing season, in which four different coaches had spells in charge of the club.

In December 2009, it was confirmed Spalletti would join Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg on a three-year deal. Spalletti was appointed manager of Roma for his second spell on 13 January 2016, after ex-manager Rudi Garcia was sacked due to poor team performances.

On 9 June 2017, Spalletti was confirmed as the new manager of Inter after signing a two-year contract. This came after he travelled to Nanjing, China, to hold talks with Zhang Jindong, managing director of Suning Holdings Group, majority owner of Inter. On 20 May 2018, at their last game of the season, Inter defeated Lazio 2–3 to finish the league in fourth place and therefore qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in six years.

On this day in 1973 - Arsenal legend Ray Parlour was born

During Parlour's Arsenal career he was nicknamed "The Romford Pelé"; although the nickname was given with an ironic sense of humour, on account of his solid performance but unglamorous image. He has been described as an "unsung hero" and praised as a "fans' favourite" for his high-energy performances.

He is now a pundit on television, as well as on radio stations BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport.

On this day in 1984 - Former Gunner Mathieu Flamini was born

As a midfielder, Flamini has played for French side Marseille, English sides Arsenal and Crystal Palace, Italian side Milan and Spanish side Getafe. At international level, he has been capped by the France national team on three occasions.

Flamini is a co-founder of GF Biochemicals, the first company in the world able to mass-produce levulinic acid.