Barca cruise past Chelsea

Barcelona booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-0 win against Chelsea, on another record-breaking night for Lionel Messi.

See how the action unfolded at Camp Nou with our liveblog!

Messi not only scored his fastest-ever goal for club and country on Wednesday but also netted his 100th in the Champions League, with Ousmane Dembele also opening his Barca account.

Messi and Andres Iniesta returned to the Catalans' XI and Dembele kept his spot on the right wing, but Nelson Semedo and Denis Suarez remained sidelined.

Chelsea, meanwhile, were full-strength, although Antonio Conte sprung a surprise up top, where Olivier Giroud was preferred to Alvaro Morata.

Barca escaped Stamford Bridge with an away goal in a 1-1 draw three weeks ago, but the Blues famously held them 2-2 to reach the Champions League Final back in 2012.

Unfortunately for the Premier League champions, Messi took just three minutes to nutmeg Thibaut Courtois from Luis Suarez’s flick, his one-two with Dembele having bounced off Marcos Alonso before reaching the Uruguayan.

The Frenchman then went from provider to goalscorer as Cesc Fabregas – against his former club – lost the ball near the halfway line, allowing Messi to break away and cleverly tee up his strike partner with a square ball.

Suarez went on to draw a close-range stop from Courtois, but Chelsea could’ve gone ahead before half-time, had Marc-Andre ter Stegen not kept out Alonso’s drive from inside the box and the left-back’s free kick bend a few more inches to the left.

Unfortunately for the Premier League champions, Messi took just three minutes to nutmeg Thibaut Courtois from Luis Suarez’s flick, his one-two with Dembele having bounced off Marcos Alonso before reaching the Uruguayan.

The Frenchman then went from provider to goalscorer as Cesc Fabregas – against his former club – lost the ball near the halfway line, allowing Messi to break away and cleverly tee up his strike partner with a square ball.

Suarez went on to draw a close-range stop from Courtois, but Chelsea could’ve gone ahead before half-time, had Marc-Andre ter Stegen not kept out Alonso’s drive from inside the box and the left-back’s free kick bend a few more inches to the left.

Courtois almost gifted Barca a third early in the second half, passing the ball straight to Suarez, but he redeemed himself, stopping the No 9’s daisy-cutter.

The Blaugrana lost two of their midfield conductors in Iniesta and Sergio Busquets after the break, the latter picking up a knock, but they retained control and Messi was able to slip another finish through the Belgian’s legs for 3-0.

As for Chelsea, their frustrating night was capped off late on, when Antonio Rudiger’s header from a corner crashed against the crossbar, marking the fourth time the Londoners had hit the woodwork in the tie.

Barcelona 3-0 Chelsea (4-1 agg.)

Messi 3, 63, Dembele 20

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Dembele (Vidal 67), Rakitic, Busquets (Gomes 61), Iniesta (Paulinho 56); Messi, Suarez

Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Moses (Zappacosta 67), Kante, Fabregas, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Giroud (Morata 67), Hazard (Pedro 82)

Referee: Skomina (SVN)

Tags Chelsea
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