Messi finished the 2013/2014 season with 28 goals and 11 assists in La Liga. This delicious lob against Rayo Vallecano is one of our favourites

All eyes were on Messi at the World Cup and he delivered in Argentina’s first group game, scoring this beautiful solo goal against Bosnia

He delivered in the second group game as well with a brilliant stoppage-time winner against Iran

And he delivered in the third group game with a double in the 3-2 win over Nigeria, including this tasty free-kick

Even when he wasn’t scoring he was still delivering, like when he set up Angel di Maria for the winner against Switzerland in extra-time

He won the Golden Ball as the World Cup’s best player — though plenty of people disagreed with the decision

Martin Meissner Martin Meissner

A whole host of records fell at the end of the year. The second of his three goals against Sevilla made him the top scorer in La Liga history, taking him past Telmo Zarra

Then it was on to Europe where he scored a hat-trick against APOEL to move past Raul and set a new record for the most Champions League goals

Remarkably, he scored another hat-trick against Espanyol in early December – his third in four games

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2014 highlight reel is an irrefutable case for the Ballon d’Or

He’s class, isn’t he? The best bits from Sergio Aguero’s brilliant 2014