Lionel Messi was at his sublime best as he pounced on two Manchester United mistakes to score a brace as Barcelona breezed into the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.
The Argentina superstar opened the scoring in the 16th minute and then added another goal in the 20th as the United defence was left reeling in face of his swift attack. The fact that it came after a the Red Devils made a strong start at Camp Nou after conceding just the own goal in the first leg at Old Trafford made it an even more vintage Messi performance.
After an excellent start, United were undone twice in four minutes by Messi, who first nicked the ball off the careless Ashley Young and then watched as a weak shot from distance squirmed underneath David de Gea.
But United errors notwithstanding, it was another night of genius for Messi. He destroyed the defence, Young in particular, and goalkeeper de Gea had no answer either.
🙌 Messi doing what Messi does best. Phenomenal.#UCL | @MastercardUK pic.twitter.com/EvcyxoiCKN
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 16, 2019
Watching Messi live makes life worth living. 🐐
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 16, 2019
God it's amazing watching Messi. Give him the tiniest bit of space... #BARMUN
— Ben Lewis (@benlewismedia) April 16, 2019
🐐 Lionel #Messi has scored 2️⃣2️⃣ goals in 3️⃣1️⃣ #ChampionsLeague games against 🏴 opponents, more than any other player in the competition.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 16, 2019
🔵🔴 #BarçaMUFC #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/Gkkn8Afjnf
🗣 “The Messi I saw 10 years ago was on verge of being the best, the Messi I saw today is already the greatest ever"
— Football Tweets (@FutballTweets) April 17, 2019
- Sir Alex Ferguson on Lionel Messi performance against Man United pic.twitter.com/i4R9shzOyw
Most goals scored vs England's top six:
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) April 17, 2019
Sergio Agüero - 43
Jamie Vardy - 29
Eden Hazard - 26
Lionel Messi - 24*
Harry Kane - 22
Wayne Rooney - 20
Robin van Persie - 18
*Messi has never played in the Premier League. pic.twitter.com/Ak66V65CPY
20' GOAL BARCELONA
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) April 16, 2019
Leo Messi scores again... but it's one of the worst goalkeeper howlers you'll ever see from David de Gea.
Barcelona 2-0 Man United (3-0 on agg.)#UCL #BARMNU #OptusSport pic.twitter.com/VJrbsxteBk
Lionel Messi has now scored 45 goals in each of his last two seasons:
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 16, 2019
2017/18: 54 games, 45 goals
2018/19: 42 games, 45 goals
Oh lord. pic.twitter.com/XWovmQHZct
The look on Pogba's face after Messi's goal is priceless. He just witnessed greatness 💀😳 pic.twitter.com/pBbCy0TGA5
— World Cup (@FlFAWC2018) April 17, 2019
White walkers chasing Messi 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/4SNWmi7VZd
— nebdialahanihani (@popelolo1) April 17, 2019
He's arrived. ⚡ pic.twitter.com/BhV8g5ZIwD
— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 16, 2019
Highlights of Lionel Messi v Phil Jones at the Nou Camp: pic.twitter.com/YWkSFxc8iK
— Sam Cunningham (@samcunningham) April 16, 2019
I'm Chris Smalling. And I'm Phil Jones.
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 16, 2019
And he's Lionel Messi 😎 🐐 pic.twitter.com/p9LM3Axw2l
Lionel Messi today.#ChampionsLeague#BARMUN pic.twitter.com/RCPcE9hXJ1
— The Analyst (@joel_analyst) April 16, 2019