Barcelona 3-0 Chelsea (4-1): Messi leads Blaugrana into last eight

Barcelona 3-0 Chelsea (4-1): Messi leads Blaugrana into last eight

Leo fue un peligro para la defensa londinense
Leo fue un peligro para la defensa londinense | sport

Messi scored two and made the other as Barça reached the quarters

Barcelona and Lionel Messi are into the last eight of the Champions League for the 11th consecutive season after beating Chelsea 3-0 at Camp Nou on Wednesday. 

MATCH FACTS
Champions League Octavos vuelta

FCB

3 ________________ 0

CHE

LINE UP

FC Barcelona

Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba, Sergio Busquets (André Gomes, 60'), Rakitic, Iniesta (c) (Paulinho, 56'), Dembélé (Aleix Vidal, 67'), Messi y Luis Suárez.

Chelsea

Courtois, Azpilicueta (c), Christinsen, Rüdiger, Moses (Zappacosta, 67'), Kanté, Cesc Fábregas, Marcos Alonso, Willian, Hazard (Pedro, 82') y Giroud (Morata, 67').

Goles

1-0, min.2 Messi. Combinación entre Suárez y Messi y el '10' le marca el gol entre las piernas de Courtois; 2-0 min 20 Dembélé. Otra genialidad de Leo Messi que se deshace de tres contrarios antes de ceder a Dembélé que marca con un trallazo: 3-0 min 63 Messi. Suárez se la deja a Messi que se lleva a todos los contrarios y bate a Courtois por bajo.

Árbitro

Damir Skomina (Eslovenia). Mostró tarjetas amarillas a Sergi Roberto (22') por agarrar a Hazard; a Willian (45') por protestar; a Giroud (49') por protestar; a Marcos Alonso (75') por plantillazo a Paulinho;

Incidencias

Camp Nou. 97.183 espectadores.

Messi was once again the architect of the win, scoring twice and making the other for Ousmane Dembele as Ernesto Valverde’s side advanced with a 4-1 aggregate win. 

The home supporters responded to the occasion with the largest crowd of the season and an atmosphere fitting of another Messi masterclass. 

It took the Argentine just two minutes and eight second to open the scoring (the quickest goal of his career) when he nutmegged Thibaut Courtois from a tight ankle. 

Ernesto Valverde had made two big calls before the match: starting a half fit Andres Iniesta and opting for Dembele ahead of Paulinho. 

Chelsea gathered some momentum after the goal and came close to equalising but were regularly thwarted by the brilliant Samuel Umtiti. 

The scale of their task increased when Messi took advantage of a Cesc Fabregas mistake, beating three defenders and setting up Dembele for his first Barca goal. 

Marcos Alonso came close to pulling a goal back, drawing a save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen and hitting the frame of the goal from a free kick. 

The Premier League side would have progressed on away goals if they could have come back to 2-2, matching their famous result here in 2012, but the game was up when Messi scored his second of the night, nutmegging Courtois again after good work from Luis Suarez. 

Barca’s night was tainted by an injury to Sergio Busquets, although on a positive note there was a brilliant reception for his replacement Andre Gomes. 

The Portugal midfielder’s been whistled in the past and spoke in the week about how it’s affecting him. 

However, that was just a side not on another Messi night. Barca are still dreaming of the treble, unbeaten in La Liga and in the Copa del Rey final, too, and it’s largely because of their No.10.