Lewis Hamilton to take new approach to racing this season

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McLaren's Lewis Hamilton says he is taking a new approach this season - aimed at scoring regular points.
Last year his title hopes were hit by several non-finishes and incidents.
He said: "Last year taught me the value of consistency. It's no use chasing a great result if you can't follow it up with a strong finish the next week.
"Maybe I'm just playing myself in. In 2007, I didn't win a race until the sixth round but I was in the hunt for the title all through the year."
That is a reference to the Englishman's debut season in Formula 1, when he set an all-time record by finishing on the podium for his first nine races.
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“
I've usually gone well in Shanghai, it's a circuit I really enjoy and I'm looking forward to the race weekend
”
Jenson Button
This year, he has finished third in the first two races and is lying second in the championship, five points behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso but ahead of the men most likely to be his title rivals - his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button and Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.
In both Australia and Malaysia, Hamilton started from pole position but lost ground in the race for different reasons.
"I won't deny that I'm disappointed to have had two pole positions and not to have been able to convert either of them into victories," added Hamilton, "but I prefer to think of it that luck just hasn't been on my side, and that it will swing my way sooner or later."
The next race is the Chinese Grand Prix on 15 April, an event Hamilton won last year and in 2008.
He said: "I'm looking at the championship as a whole. Although, of course, I'd love to win every race, it's more important to be in a good points-scoring position at every race.
"The first two races have shown that, as a team, we're definitely in positions to win.
"Malaysia was a good example of how to pick up points when you're looking at the championship - and that was something I really took away as a positive from that race.
"I'll be heading to China looking to win - but it's just as important to pick up some good points if, for whatever reason, a win isn't on the cards."
Button is third in the championship, five points behind his McLaren team-mate, after winning in Australia but finishing out of the points in Malaysia.
He said his poor result in the last race would make no difference to his approach to China.
"Not really," Button said. "It makes you a little keener to get back in the cockpit as you're always a bit more determined to be looking ahead rather than looking back.
"But it doesn't really make any difference. In fact, the three-week break has been extremely relaxing - I was able to get away, relax and keep training.
"It's still the start of a very long season, so it's good to keep fit and refreshed.
"I've usually gone well in Shanghai, it's a circuit I really enjoy and I'm looking forward to the race weekend."

Bayer Leverkusen duo argues over who get Lionel Messi shirt

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Bayer Leverkusen duo squabble over Lionel Messi shirt


Two Bayer Leverkusen players have been criticised by their director of sport for squabbling over who gets to keep Barcelona star Lionel Messi's shirt.
"What the pair did was a bit over the top," said Rudi Voeller.
Michal Kadlec and Manuel Friedrich pursued Messi at half-time and full-time during their Champions League clash on Wednesday night.
Kadlec reportedly exchanged shirts with Messi at half-time, only for Friedrich to take it off him.
“
When you play against such a player, then you always want his shirt
”
Michal Kadlec
Determined not to be outdone, Kadlec, who scored Leverkusen's only goal in the 3-1 defeat, then exchanged shirts again after the final whistle.
Voeller told German newspaper Bild that he was disappointed with the way the two players handled themselves when "90% of the team was fully concentrated on the game."
Ahead of the second leg of their last 16 tie in Barcelona, Voeller added: "I can guarantee that Kadlec and Friedrich will auction off their Messi shirts for a good cause. I have not spoken to the pair yet, but I will do."
After the game, Kadlec was unrepentant about his behaviour.
"When you play against such a player, then you always want his shirt," he told Sky television.
"I would have swapped it immediately for a better result, but it is a shame that we did not do enough."

Pele says Lionel Messi is not the greatest ever player

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Pele says Lionel Messi is not the greatest ever player

Brazil legend Pele says Barcelona's Argentina star Lionel Messi has a long way to go to be considered his rival as the greatest player of all time.
Messi, 24, has won Fifa's Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world for a third successive year.
But Pele thinks he needs to improve for Argentina and score more goals.
“
He's a great player for Barcelona, but when he plays for Argentina he doesn't have the same success
”
Pele on Messi
"When Messi's scored 1,283 goals like me, when he's won three World Cups, we'll talk about it," Pele told French newspaper Le Monde  .
Messi has won the Champions League three times with Barcelona, as well as five league Spanish league titles.
But his only triumph with the national team was at the 2008 Olympics - while Pele's Brazil won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
The 71-year-old said: "I like Messi a lot, he's a great player. Technically, we're practically at the same level.
"He's a great player for Barcelona, but when he plays for Argentina he doesn't have the same success.
"People always ask me: 'When is the new Pele going to be born?' Never. My father and mother have closed the factory."

Is Barcelona's Lionel Messi the greatest-ever footballer

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MESSI IN NUMBERS

Wednesday's game against Bayer Leverkusen was the first time Messi scored five goals in a game in his career. It is also the first time a player scored five goals in a Champions League game. He also has one quadruple (v Arsenal), one hat-trick (v Viktoria Plzen) and nine braces in the competition.

Pro-Real Madrid Spanish newspaper Marca hails Messi's "hand of God"
With 49 goals in 64 games, Messi is the fourth top scorer in the history of the Champions League (since 1992-93), behind Raul (71), Ruud van Nistelrooy (56) & Thierry Henry (50).
Messi has scored 12 goals this season in the Champions League, which equals the best total in a Champions League campaign (since 1992-93). The others to reach that tally were Van Nistelrooy (2002-03) & Messi himself (2010-11).
This season, Messi has scored twice as many goals as any other player in the Champions League, ahead of Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez with six.
Since his goal in the 2009 final, Messi has scored 33 goals in 30 Champions League starts. It had been a year since he last scored at the Nou Camp in the competition (3-1 v Arsenal, 8 March 2011).
Messi had seven shots against Leverkusen, six of them on target.
Messi scored his 49th Champions League goal at the age of 24 years, eight months & 13 days old. When reaching the same target, Raul was aged 27 years, four months and 27 days - while Van Nistelrooy and Henry were aged 30 and 31 respectively.
Source: Opta
WHAT THEY HAVE SAID ABOUT HIM

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“
He is the best player in football's history and we've never seen anyone like him
”
Cesc Fabregas
Spain & Barcelona
"He's the best [ever], there is no other like him. We'll never see a player like him again. The throne belongs to him and only he will decide when he wants to relinquish it." - Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.
"When Messi has scored 1,283 goals like me, when he's won three World Cups, we'll talk about it." - Pele.
"When you play against such a player, then you always want his shirt." - Bayer Leverkusen player Michal Kadlec, who was criticised by his coach for squabbling with a team-mate over who got to exchange shirts with the Argentine.
"He's going to be one of the best footballers in the history of the sport." - Barcelona team-mate Xavi, after Messi claimed his third Ballon d'Or.
"Do you remember the goal Maradona scored in the World Cup against England when he took on and beat half their team? Well, Leo used to score goals like that almost every game, even when he was only five years old." - David Trevez, president of Grandoli FC, the first club where Messi played competitively.
"He was very small at the time of his discovery, but he was an excellent player already. Many players are in La Masia [Barcelona's training facilities] every year, but I remember Leo as the one who loved football the most." - Barca's former youth director and the man credited with discovering Messi, Josep Colomer.
Messi's success to date
Argentina captain, with 67 caps and 22 goals and a 2008 Olympic gold medal
Three-time Fifa Ballon d'Or winner (2009, 2010 and 2012)
Fifa World Player of the Year 2009
Uefa Best Player in Europe Award 2010-11
Barcelona: 201 appearances, 147 goals
Record 53 goals in all competitions for Barcelona (2010-11 season)
Five La Liga titles, five Supercopa de Espana, one Copa del Rey
Three Champions League titles
Two Uefa Super Cup titles
Two Fifa Club World Cup titles
"The best player in the world. Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable." - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, following Barca's 4-1 demolition of Arsenal at the Nou Camp in 2010.
"He has everything to be the number one." - Brazil legend Carlos Alberto Torres.
"I believe if he carries on playing like he is he will become the number one in history." - Argentine World Cup winner and former team-mate of Diego Maradona, Ossie Ardiles.
"Since he arrived at Barcelona at such a young age, we saw quickly that he had some very special qualities." - Barcelona academy coach Jose Ramon Alexanco.
"I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentinian football and his name is Messi." - Diego Maradona, speaking in 2006
WHO ARE HIS RIVALS FOR THE "GREATEST EVER" TAG?

Pele:
Brazilian Pele won three World Cups - 1958, 1962 and 1970 - and scored 77 goals in 91 appearances for his country. He was jointly awarded Fifa's Player of the Century in 1999 with Diego Maradona. He bagged 1,281 goals in 1,363 games for club and country before retiring in 1977.
Diego Maradona:
Diego Maradona was jointly awarded the honour of Fifa's Player of the Century with Pele and earned 91 caps for his country, scoring 34 goals. Predominantly left-footed, the forward was a World Cup-winning captain in 1986. He retired in 1997, with 292 goals in 583 club and country appearances.
Johan Cruyff:
Dutch winger Johan Cruyff won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974 - a record jointly held with Michel Platini, Marco van Basten and Lionel Messi. The Netherlands never lost a match in the 33 games in which he scored. In total for clubs and country he slotted home 324 goals in 568 games before retiring in 1984, but never lifted the World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo:
Portugal's captain Cristiano Ronaldo is the most expensive player in football history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid for £80m in 2009. Ronaldo, 27, won the Champions League in 2008 and already has 88 caps and 32 goals for his country, as well as 183 goals in 309 club appearances. The European Golden Shoe and Premier League Golden Boot winner is also the highest goalscorer in a season in Real Madrid's history with 53 strikes.
George Best:
Northern Irishman George Best won the European Cup in 1968 with Manchester United, winning the European Footballer of the Year the same year. Best also grabbed two English league titles (1965, 1967). He won 37 caps for Northern Ireland, and scored 214 goals in 616 appearances before retiring in 1983.
Other candidates: Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina, Colombia & Spain), Eusebio (Portugal), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Michel Platini (France), Ronaldo (Brazil), Zinedine Zidane (France)

lionel messi factfile

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Messi factfile
• Fifa World Player of the Year 2009
• Three-time Ballon d'Or winner (2009, 2010 and 2011)
• Uefa Best Player in Europe Award 2010-11
• Barcelona: 319 appearances, 240 goals (all competitions)
• Record 60 goals so far in all competitions for Barcelona (2011-12 season)
• Five La Liga titles, five Supercopa de Espana, one Copa del Rey
• Three Champions League titles
• Two Uefa Super Cup titles
• Two Fifa Club World Cup titles

Barcelona's Lionel Messi become the first European top-flight player in almost 40 years to score 60 goals in a season.

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Barcelona's Lionel Messi goes past 60-goal mark for the season

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has become the first European top-flight player in almost 40 years to score 60 goals in a season.

The Argentine scored two goals in the 4-1 La Liga win over Real Zaragoza on Saturday, as they cut the gap on table topping Real Madrid to three points.The 24-year-old is now seven goals behind Gerd Muller's all-time record for goals in a season.

The German legend netted 67 times for Bayern Munich in the 1972-73 campaign.

Barcelona were given an early scare at La Romareda, when the Aragonese side took the lead on the half-hour mark through Carlos Aranda's goal.

However, after Carles Puyol levelled matters in the 36th minute, Messi made it 2-1 to Barcelona three minutes later with a finish from 15 yards from an Alexis Sanchez pass.

His second came from the penalty spot with four minutes of the game remaining, and Pedro completed the scoring for Barcelona with a fourth goal in the final minute.

Messi has scored 38 goals in La Liga this season, and a further 14 in the Champions League, including five in the last 16 second leg win over Bayer Leverkusen in March.

Messi has also netted twice in the Copa del Rey, three times in the Supercopa, one in the Uefa Super Cup and two in the Club World Cup.