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La Liga giants Barcelona earned a well-deserved 4-2 victory against Tottenham Hotspur in a much-awaited Champions League Group stage game on Wednesday.
Goals from Philippe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic and Lionel Messi handed the Spurs a big blow to their European League pursuit.
Spurs fans were briefly given hope as Mauricio Pochettino's side hit the net with goals from Harry Kane and Erik Lamela.
However, Messi’s second goal in the last minute of the game succumbed the North London side to a collapse, with zero points from their opening two matches in Group B.
Prior to the game, the hosts were handed with a confidence advantage as Barcelona have not won in three LaLiga matches so far and reports of a rift between Messi and Gerard Pique were doing the rounds.
However, Argentine ace Messi, who was undoubtedly the star of the game, put all doubts to rest at Wembley, scoring twice to power his side to the top of the group table.
Barcelona stand at the top of the group with six points while Tottenham Hotspurs have zero after having lost their opening two matches.
Messi is now only the second player to have 30 multi-goal games in the Champions League, second only to Cristiano Ronaldo who has 34 multi-goal games.
Speaking after the game, Spurs manager Pochettino said, "When you concede in under two minutes, it changes everything. It's hard to assess. I want to congratulate the team, they fought very hard. Disappointed with the result but the effort is massive from the team. I am proud."
"This type of game, at this level, to give that sort of advantage - it is so difficult to come back. But we showed a lot character in the second half."
Speaking about Barcelona's star man, Pochettino said, "Messi in every game, shows why he is Messi. His average performance is this type of game, he is above everything."
Twitter has since exploded with reactions to Messi's performance:
