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SteemSports Editor:
It took one man, Lionel Messi, to inspire a superb win for Barcelona last night as they punished and knocked out English side, Chelsea, out of the last-16 of the Champions League in clinical fashion, following a performance laden with error from the Londoners.
The first leg at Stamford bridge ended in a 1 – 1 draw, but at the Camp Nou, and with a returning Lionel Messi, who missed the weekends game for Barcelona following the birth of his third child, Chelsea fell behind after just 128 seconds.
Team Line-Up:
*Barcelona*: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Umtiti, Pique, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Messi, Dembele, Suarez
*Chelsea*: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso; Willian, Hazard, Giroud
*Referee*: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
*Venue*: Camp Nou
*Attendance*: 97183
It wasn’t the sort of start the Londoners would have expected. Lionel found his shot from a tight angle go through the legs of Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Seventeen minutes later, Messi was at it again, with a magical pass to Ousmane Dembele who made no mistakes with his shot; as he fired home the second goal for the home side, following a Cesc Fabregas’ careless loss of ball possession.
The game looked like it had slipped away from Chelsea, but the Londoners didn’t exactly lie down for Barcelona. Marcos Alonso saw his free-kick hit the post for Chelsea.
Not long after Messi recorded his 100th Champions League goal against Chelsea when he scored the third goal for Barcelona following another mistake from a normally reliable Cesar Azpilicueta, which condemned Chelsea to an embarrassing defeat.
The night didn’t get any better for Chelsea; as Marcos Alonso was denied a penalty after a Gerard Pique challenge in the 18-yard area.
The loss compounds the woes of Chelsea this season, as the current Premier League champions have had a piss-poor season both domestically and in Europe culminating in their exit from the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea now join Manchester United and Tottenham as the English sides to exit the Champions League this season in just the first knock-out stage.
Barcelona now joins Real Madrid and Sevilla as the Spanish trio to partake in the draws on Friday for the quarter-final of the Champions League for this season.
As for Chelsea, they head back to England to salvage what is left of their season. Antonio Conte knows that by every standard, this season's campaign has been a failure. The rumours surrounding his future would not be disappearing anytime soon. Perhaps, securing a top-fur finish might be enough to pacify the Chelsea supporters who have grown overly dissatisfied with his methods, tactics and player management.
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