Lionel Messi was at his indomitable best and put on a masterclass to savour in a 3-0 Barcelona thrashing of Bayern Munich.
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It certainly won’t have been the homecoming former Barca boss Pep Guardiola will have been hoping for on his first return to the Camp Nou since leaving the club in 2012.
But sentimentality was brushed aside by the Argentine, who put his former mentor’s side to the sword with an array of skill and talent only he seems capable of.
See how the action played out below:
Barcelona started brightly with some crisp passing. Luis Suarez was demanding a penalty just four minutes in after a particularly clumsy challenge from Jerome Boateng but the ref waved his protests away.
Again Luis Enrique’s side pressed and Manuel Neuer pulled off an absolutely world-class stop to keep Suarez at bay after he wriggled free of the Bayern back-line.
The Bundesliga champions were certainly under the cosh, and Neymar almost gave Barca the advantage again when his shot from a Suarez pull-back deflected off a Bayern defender and just wide.
A tactical change, with Guardiola changing Bayern to four at the back, almost paid immediate dividends with Lewandowski spurning what looked a brilliant chance to steal a lead.
Barcelona had another gilt-edged chance late in the first half with a incredibly precise Iniesta chip finding an on-rushing Dani Alves who tried to toe poke it past Neuer but again the German was equal to it.
That was the last meaningful chance of the half, Barcelona and Bayern went in at the break at 0-0.
Bayern certainly looked like their had rediscovered their pomp and composure in the second half but Barcelona are always dangerous.
Lionel Messi managed to get a ball through to Neymar who managed to stay on side but – Sweeper Keeper alert – Manuel Neuer was there again.
After a rather tepid period where both sides seem to cancel each other out, nothing could have prepared us for what was the happen next.
Bernat gave away the ball on the right touchline which Alves immediately picked up and slotted through to Messi. The Argentine played it a few yard forwards before firing a wonderful low drive into the bottom right corner. Neuer nowhere to be seen.
And just two minutes later he was at it again. A bit of quite ludicrous magic from Messi who picked up the ball deep on the edge of the penalty area before dummying Boating to such an extent the German fell to his backside, he dinked a perfect effort over a flapping Neuer who stood no chance. What a player.
Neymar put the icing on the cake in added time as Bayern Munich looked for the away goal. Is that game over already ahead of the second-leg next week?
And just look at Pep’s reaction. He knows it’s probably all over.
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