Messi joins Ronaldo in the 100-goal club
Lionel Messi joined Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League’s 100-goal club after scoring twice to lead Barcelona past Chelsea and into the Champions League quarter-finals for an 11th straight season on Wednesday.
Messi also set up Ousmane Dembele in a 3-0 win at Camp Nou after he had scored Barcelona’s goal in the opening-leg 1-1 draw in London.
Messi beat Thibaut Courtois with two strikes between the Chelsea goalkeeper’s legs from very tight angles on the side of the box. He struck the opener three minutes into the match and took Barcelona’s third goal in the 63rd.
Ronaldo, with 117 goals, is the only other player to reach the century-mark in Europe’s elite club competition. Messi reached his 100th goal in 123 matches, while Real Madrid’s star needed 144 games.
But the most dazzling moment from the Argentina forward, who returned from missing one match for the birth of his third son on Saturday, came when he helped Dembele score his first goal for Barcelona after he stole the ball from former Barcelona teammate Cesc Fabregas and darted past two would-be tacklers in the 20th.
While Chelsea coach Antonio Conte lamented his players’ near misses — they hit the woodwork four times over the two legs — he lavished praise on Messi, whom he congratulated on the pitch following the final whistle.
“I think when you have the opportunity to make a great compliment to Messi, it is right to recognize a super, super, super top player,” Conte said.
“We are talking about an extraordinary player. The best in the world. This type of player is born once in 50 years.” Bayern Munich 3 Besiktas 1 (Bayern 8-1 on aggregate)
Bayern Munich easily advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals for the seventh straight year with a 3-1 win at Besiktas on Wednesday.
Thiago Alcantara, Gokhan Gonul’s own goal and Sandro Wagner gave Bayern an 8-1 win on aggregate following the side’s 5-0 victory in the first leg of the last-16 tie.