BEVERLY HILLS, March 15, (THEWILL) –Â Barcelona defeated Chelsea 3-0 at the Camp Nou to advance into the Quarter final of the UEFA Champions League thanks to a brace and an assist from Lionel Messi who returned after the birth of his son, Ciro, over the weekend.
Messi got the first goal in the third minute when Chelsea had barely touched the ball. A string of Barcelona passes led to the new father slotting under Courtois from a very acute angle.
Chelsea’s valiant attempt at a comeback was quickly dispelled in the 20th minute as Messi stormed past two defenders before passing to Dembele whose shot found the top corner to make it 2-0.
Chelsea had a strong penalty claim waved off by the referee early in the second half, Alonso crumbling under a push from Pique but the referee would have none of it while Alonso also had a free kick hit the bar in the closing minutes of the first half.
Chelsea’s entire backline were, however, all over the place and they soon gifted Barca the third goal, and Messi his 100th Champions League goal to join Cristiano Ronaldo in the exclusive centurion club.
Earlier in the evening, German giants, Bayern Munich completed an 8-1 aggregate win over Besiktas to stroll into the UCL Quarter finals.
Goals from Thiago Alcántara, Timo Werner and an own goal from Gökhan Gönül completed the rout while Vágner Love scored Besiktas’ consolation goal.
