Skipper Lionel Messi, who scored a brace in Barcelona's dominant 3-0 win over Liverpool, hails team's semi-final first leg show, but warns Catalan side of tough return tie at Anfield
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi warned his Barcelona teammates that their place in the Champions League final is still not certain despite his two-goal salvo in a 3-0 semi-final first leg win over Liverpool on Wednesday.
"It would have been better to win 4-0 than 3-0 but it is a very good result. It's not definitive, we are going to go into a very complicated atmosphere, with a great history," said the Argentine star. Messi's second goal was the 600th of his Barca career and he reached the landmark in stunning style, curling in a free-kick — his 42nd goal off a free-kick goal in the 600.
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26th Min: Luis Suarez beats Liverpool 'keeper Alisson Becker to score Barcelona's opening goal on Wednesday
"It was beautiful when it went in but I was lucky that the ball lodged up there in the corner," said Messi, the all-time highest goalscorer in La Liga with 417 goals.
Luis Suarez opened the scoring against his former club. "We must be more united than ever, all together: the team, the fans. We said at the beginning of the season that we will win it together," added Messi, who is the second all-time highest scorer ever in the Champions League with 112 goals (behind Cristiano Ronaldo on 126).
75th Min: Barcelona's Lionel Messi dribbles past a couple of Liverpool defenders to make it 2-0
Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde too hailed the Argentine. "I knew before that he was a world-class player and I saw it again. I am not surprised. I am always surprised. I don't know how he does it," said Valverde.
In the end, 3-0 seemed harsh, lacking the away goal Liverpool deserved and requiring now a comeback in the second leg at Anfield that would surely rival the 2005 miracle in Istanbul.
82nd Min: Messi curls in a free-kick to make it 3-0 and seal the fate of the match. Pics/Getty Images, AFP
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane terrorised Barca's defence, the latter perhaps even the game's stand-out player during a breathless opening 45 minutes, in which both teams might have scored two or three. But while Liverpool's deadly duo have an impressive 50 goals between them this season, Suarez and Messi have 75, their knack of finding, creating and converting chances unparallelled and, in this first leg, most decisive.
600
No. of goals Lionel Messi has scored for Barcelona
Messi's goals by competition
La Liga - 417
Champions League - 112
Copa del Rey - 50
Spanish Super Cup - 13
FIFA Club World Cup -5
UEFA Super Cup -3
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