Barcelona 3-0 Manchester United: Messi turns it on against Red Devils
Messi scored twice as Barça reached the Champions League semifinals
Lionel Messi turned on the magic in the Champions League again as Barcelona eased past Manchester United 3-0 to reach the semifinal for the first time since 2015.
FCB
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LINE UP
FC Barcelona
Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto (Semedo, 70'), Piqué, Lenglet, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Arthur (Arturo Vidal, 74'), Messi, Coutinho (Dembélé, 80') y Luis Suárez
Manchester United
De Gea, Lindelof, Jones, Smalling, Young, McTominay, Fred, Pogba, Lingard (Alexis Sánchez, 79'), Martial (Dalot, 64') y Rashford (Lukaku, 73')
Goles
1-0, Messi (15'); 2-0, Messi (19'); 3-0, Coutinho (60')
Árbitro
Felix Brych .(alemán). TA: Luis Suárez (76')
Incidencias
Camp Nou, 96.078 espectadores
Messi scored twice in the first half to take the tie out of United's reach at Camp Nou before Philippe Coutinho added a third after the break.
Barça will meet Porto or Liverpool in the last four later this month as they remain in the hunt for a historic third treble.
United started well and could have led early on. Marcus Rashford hit the bar and then forced Marc-Andre ter Stegen into a comfortable save before Messi took over.
VAR overturned a penalty decision for a Fred challenge on Ivan Rakitic but there was no overturning Messi's goal minutes later. The Argentine collected the ball after Rakitic had hunted down Ashley Young and clinically curled home from 20 yards.
Four minutes later, it was two. Messi again. This time the finish was less clinical but David de Gea comically fumbled.
Sergi Roberto almost added a third in first half stoppage time but fired straight at De Gea after Messi had made a fool of Phil Jones and Jordi Alba had crossed.
The second half was a breeze, with Barça three-up including last week's 1-0 first leg win at Old Trafford. Coutinho added the third with a bullet from 25 yards to put the seal on the win.
Ernesto Valverde's side now have three trophies in sight. They have a Champions League semifinal to come, are nine points clear in La Liga and will play Valencia in the Copa del Rey final in May.