Barcelona 3-0 Chelsea (Aggregate 4-1): 5 Talking Points

#1 Lionel Messi- Ain't no hex that the sorcerer can't wreck

It is just plain criminal, mate. It is not even funny anymore. We need to get geared up and we need to get this man in a lab. Or get him in a room. Bring the plyers and the tweezers and the whole lot because Leo Messi has some explanation to provide.

Jokes aside, when you come to Barcelona, there are two golden rules you gotta follow to the T. The first is that you do not afford Lionel Messi an inch of space.

The second rule is that you DO NOT AFFORD...

What was that again? Not scored against Chelsea in 8 meetings or something? Good, tell him that. Tell him about all the things that he can't do so that he can make a list and strike em out one by one and laugh at all of us and look absolutely adorable while doing it.

This was just vintage Lionel Messi. Doing the unthinkable, nutmegging Courtois from 8 yards away with a sweet strike with his right foot. He then rocketed past Christensen and Alonso before drawing the bloody lot of them in towards him only to square one to Dembele to set him up with all the time and space in the world so the youngster could cherish the night too.

Even Messi's 2nd goal of the night was down to his incredible movement, both off the ball and on it, as he whizzed into the box with a swoosh-shaped trail before once again poking mullock at Courtois with yet another shot through the legs.

It was he who was the difference between the two sides across both legs. He was directly involved in all 4 goals scored by Barcelona- scoring 3 and setting up 1- as they won the tie with an aggregate score of 4-1.

It's not always entirely true but then tonight it could have just been one of those (not so rare) 'Stop Messi, stop Barcelona' nights.

I can't even...

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Zeeshan Ali