Título: Lionel Messi
Seção: 2012: A record-breaking year
Background: Lionel Andres Messi was born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, the third of four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop. On his father's side, he is of Italian and Spanish descent, the great-grandson of immigrants from the northcentral Adriatic Marche region of Italy and Catalonia, and on his mother's side, he has primarily Italian ancestry. Growing up in a tight-knit, football-loving family, "Leo" developed a passion for the sport from an early age, playing constantly with his older brothers, Rodrigo and Matias, and his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom became professional footballers. At the age of four he joined local club Grandoli, where he was coached by his father, though his earliest influence as a player came from his maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and matches.

Conteúdo: As Messi maintained his goalscoring form into the second half of the season, the year 2012 saw him break several longstanding records. On 7 March, two weeks after scoring four goals in a league fixture against Valencia, he scored five times in a Champions League last 16-round match against Bayer Leverkusen, an unprecedented achievement in the history of the competition. In addition to being the joint top assist provider with five assists, this feat made him top scorer with 14 goals, tying Jose Altafini's record from the 1962-63 season, as well as becoming only the second player after Gerd Muller to be top scorer in four campaigns. Two weeks later, on 20 March, Messi became the top goalscorer in Barcelona's history at 24 years old, overtaking the 57-year record of Cesar Rodriguez's 232 goals with a hat-trick against Granada.  Despite Messi's individual form, Barcelona's four-year cycle of success under Guardiola - one of the greatest eras in the club's history - drew to an end. Although Barcelona won the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao on 25 May, its 14th title of that period, the team had lost the league to Real Madrid and was eliminated in the Champions League semi-finals by the eventual champions, Chelsea, with Messi sending a crucial second-leg penalty kick against the crossbar. In Barca's last home league match on 5 May, against Espanyol, Messi scored all four goals before approaching the bench to embrace Guardiola, who had announced his resignation as manager. He fi

user: What was a goal he broke this year?

assistant: on 20 March, Messi became the top goalscorer in Barcelona's history at 24 years old,

user: who did he play for?

assistant: Barcelona

user: how many goals did he score to break the record?

assistant: overtaking the 57-year record of Cesar Rodriguez's 232 goals with a hat-trick against Granada.

user: how old was he when he broke the record?

assistant: 24 years old,

user: did the team do well this year?

assistant: the team had lost the league to Real Madrid and was eliminated in the Champions League semi-finals

user: who was their coach?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: who did he beat to earn the record

assistant: overtaking the 57-year record of Cesar Rodriguez's 232 goals

user: any other interesting information?

assistant: Despite Messi's individual form, Barcelona's four-year cycle of success under Guardiola - one of the greatest eras in the club's history - drew to an end.