BARCELONA: Barcelona hailed Lionel Messi as “The King” and he handed Chelsea the royal punishment by scoring twice to reach 100 Champions League goals and end their quarter-final hopes.
After unfurling a banner showing the words “God Save The King” before kick-off, Barca’s fans were celebrating after just 129 seconds at the Camp Nou as Messi found the net before Chelsea had even made a pass.
He then teed up Ousmane Dembele to double Barca’s lead in the second leg of the last-16 clash before registering a century of Champions League goals on his 123rd appearance to complete a 3-0 victory, 4-1 on aggregate.
Conte’s team had chances, particularly in the first half, but the sense was once Barcelona were in front they were content to sit back and counter.Chelsea hit the woodwork twice and claimed for a penalty when Alonso was brought down by Gerard Pique. Andres Iniesta shook off a hamstring strain to start while Dembele was a surprise inclusion, preferred to Paulinho and rewarded for his excellent display against Malaga.
Conte, meanwhile, plumped for Olivier Giroud up front ahead of both Alvaro Morata, who was on the bench, and Eden Hazard, who was granted his wish to play deeper in attacking midfield.
Within three minutes, however, Chelse’s plan to frustrate was spoiled. Messi started the move and finished it, with Dembele, Luis Suarez and a deflection off Alonso, helping him find the space to fire through the legs of Thibaut Courtois for the fastest goal of his career.
Dembele’s second came after Cesc Fabregas failed to secure possession in midfield and Messi was away, skipping past a desperate lunge from Andreas Christensen, before taking the whole stadium by surprise by squaring to the back post. Dembele took one touch and slammed the ball into the top corner.
Any hopes Chelsea had of a comeback were extinguished shortly after the hour-mark. Suarez raced through the midfield but looked to have hit the wall on the edge of Chelsea’s box. Messi took over, tearing past the rooted Moses and banging the ball, again through the legs of Courtois, into the net.
Meanwhile, a Thiago Alcantara strike and Sandro Wagner’s first Champions League goal capped Bayern Munich’s 3-1 win at Besiktas as the German giants cruised into the quarter-finals for the seventh year in a row.
Bayern completed a comprehensive 8-1 aggregate victory in Istanbul, having effectively clinched the last-16 tie following a 5-0 rout last month in the first leg in Munich.
from The News International - Sports http://ift.tt/2Iry2IO
