Mercurial striker nets twice in 3-0 win over Chelsea to complete 100 Champions League goals as Barcelona hail...
Barca's Lionel Messi celebrates his 100th Champions League goal on Tuesday night. Pics/AFP
Lionel Messi was quick to praise his teammates despite having a decisive say in Barcelona's Champions League elimination of Chelsea.
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A majestic performance saw Messi give Barca a lead in the third minute, he set up Ousmane Dembele's second after 20 minutes and then struck a third to end any hopes of Chelsea rallying in a 3-0 win which secured a 4-1 last-16 aggregate success. The Argentina playmaker now has 100 Champions League goals and 602 in his career.
Barca fans hold up a giant banner for Lionel Messi during Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Chelsea
While the world hailed him, Messi, 30, insisted it was a collective success. "It was a really tough game for us. But we played hard and strong as a team," he told fcbarcelona.com. "Scoring so early meant we could control the game, but we didn't feel we had finished the tie until we got our third goal. Until then, we had to fight hard and suffer to achieve a very important qualification for the team."
3rd min: Messi celebrates 1-0
Messi follows Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo as only the second player in the competition's history to reach the 100 mark. Ronaldo has scored 117 goals but Messi is well clear of Raul Gonzalez (71), Ruud van Nistelrooy (56) and Karim Benzema (53), the next most prolific player not to have retired.
20th min: Dembele's joy at 2-0
63rd min: Messi shoots for 3-0
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