Messi
Messi
Messi
Messi
MessiBARCELONA, Spain (AP)—Lionel Messi scored once in each half Tuesday to lead Barcelona to a 3-1 win over 10-man Arsenal on Tuesday to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.
The Spanish champions went through 4-3 on aggregate, knocking out Arsenal from the competition for the second straight season after their quarterfinal win last year.
Messi has now scored 45 goals in all competitions and a club-record 33rd in Europe, eclipsing Rivaldo’s previous mark by two.
The Argentina forward made it 1-0 in first-half injury time at the Nou Camp, receiving a pass in the area from Andres Iniesta and flicking the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Manuel Almunia before dispatching it into the net.
“To talk about if it’s one of Messi’s best goals, there’s no point—he scores such great goals they become normal,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said.
Arsenal, which didn’t shoot once all game, leveled when Barcelona defender Sergio Busquets headed the ball into his own net in the 53rd, forcing the hosts to score twice more to advance outright.
But the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Robin van Persie received a second yellow card in the 56th, and Xavi Hernandez scored three minutes later to put Barcelona in control.
The Netherlands striker was booked by referee Massimo Busacca for time-wasting after kicking the ball away when play had just stopped for offside. But Van Persie was livid, indicating he hadn’t heard the whistle due to the noise from the 95,000-plus crowd.
“I cannot understand that view from the ref,” Van Persie said. “If there were four, five, six seconds in between, you can make a check (for offside). One second? It’s a joke.
“He’s been bad all evening, whistling against us. I don’t know why he’s here tonight. We feel betrayed a bit, when it was 1-1 it was all to play for, and in my opinion this referee killed the game.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was also outraged.
“I just spoke to UEFA people and they are shocked as well,” Wenger said. “You promise a fantastic football match, but what for? How he did it, frankly it’s embarrassing for the game.”
Guardiola said the Arsenal manager had one request for him.
“Wenger told me to congratulate the referee,” he said.
Cesc Fabregas had given the ball away near his own box in the buildup to the opening goal, Iniesta scooping a perfect ball between defenders to set Messi free, and the Arsenal captain later accepted responsibility.
“I take full blame for the result tonight,” Fabregas said on Twitter. “One of the worst moments of my life. I apologise.”
Fabregas had returned only 13 days after injuring his hamstring, while Van Persie was back after nine days sidelined with a knee problem. Van Persie was first booked for barging into Dani Alves toward the end of the first half as tempers flared.
With defensive duo Carles Puyol (knee) and Gerard Pique (suspension) missing, Eric Abidal and Busquets were paired as center backs. But the two were rarely tested as the Spanish champions dominated possession through slick, one-touch passing.
“The reality is that (Arsenal) were not able to string together three consecutive passes and they were not able to shoot once on goal,” Guardiola said.
Backup Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia came on in the 19th to replace Wojciech Szczesny, who dislocated a finger, and the Spaniard denied David Villa three times before Xavi made it 2-1 and 3-3 overall in the 69th minute.
Villa guided Iniesta’s short pass into the path of Xavi as he ran into the area, the Spain midfielder firing a shot that took a deflection off an Arsenal player before going into the net.
Led by Xavi, Iniesta and Messi, Barcelona continued to string together numerous short passes and create chances against a backpedalling Arsenal team struggling to repel the constant wave of attacks.
Xavi then played in Pedro Rodriguez, who was tripped inside the area by Laurent Koscielny. Messi converted the resulting penalty in the 71st to take his total against Arsenal to six goals from four games and a competition-leading eighth goal.
Barcelona wasted several more chances—the hosts had 19 shots for the match — before Arsenal substitute Nicklas Bendtner had a late opportunity to put his team through on away goals, but Javier Mascherano got back to tackle him in the box.
“We lost against a very good Barcelona side,” Wenger said. “But we have many regrets tonight because we didn’t expect to lose the game like that.”
