Sheer brilliance of Argentinian maestro just has

YOU could say this was a match with everything but, really, it was about the footballer with everything.

The five Tottenham players that so desperately chased Leo Messi for one of his many standout moments at Wembley represented a number far more reflective of this match than the 4-2 score. It was never that close, just as those Spurs players couldn’t get close to Messi.

He offered two glorious goals, a masterclass and overall the difference in this match, which is saying something on an evening that also saw a goal as good as that from Ivan Rakitic.

Really, it was one of those per- formances that was a privilege to watch, and may well end up a privilege to have competed against, even if the Spurs players weren’t feeling like that in the immediate aftermath.

They were instead worrying about the wasted chances, particularly in the rally of the last few minutes, as well as the moments they just let Barca play.

And, as unbelievably unplayable as Messi was — as outrageously good as he is — there was still a slight frustration for a Spurs team who now have a big job to get through this group.

They initially allowed the Catalans to get so far ahead, and in control, without the Argentinian or his side needing to push themselves. The playmaker was instead just left to pull the strings.

In the first half-hour alone, Messi had delivered three passes of such divinity that would have made the career highlights of any other player. It was just that the two that indirectly led to goals still shouldn’t have made quite that much of a mess of the Tottenham defence.

With Kieran Trippier utterly bamboozled by Messi’s first arching pass — in what was Barca’s first attack within the first minute — and Hugo Lloris haphazardly far off his line, Jordi Alba was able to easily play the ball in to Philippe Coutinho to smash it into the corner.

Mauricio Pochettino’s backline weren’t quite as culpable for the outrageous second goal, but the frustration there was that they seemed to have a reprieve.

Messi had once again executed an exceptional pass where the angle hadn’t seemed on… but he made it anyway. The Argentine picked out Luis Suarez, who instinctively and so fluidly chested the ball down for Coutinho. It was set up for the Brazilian to smash in his second of the game, only for him to completely mess it up — for a split-second.

He immediately responded and adjusted to swing the ball back towards Rakitic on the edge of the box. What followed was about as perfect an exhibition of striking the ball as the sport will see.

Barca had raised the bar — but Messi raised it even further.

Messi just scorched through the opposition half, leaving so many Spurs players in his wake, and then let fly with controlled efforts from the edge of the box. He was just inches out, but so far