Barcelona produced a terrific team performance to knock-out Arsenal from the Champions League having lost 3 weeks ago in London, winning on the night by three goals to one.
Inevitably, it was the trio of Messi, Iniesta and Xavi who were pulling the strings for the Blaugrana, even though it took a while for the maestros to warm up.
Barcelona found themselves up against an extremely resistant Arsenal back line in the first half and were thwarted constantly in their attempts to score. The deadlock was finally broken in extra time during the first period after an uncharacteristic mistake from Cesc Fabregas. The Arsenal man inadvertently back-heeled the ball into the path of Iniesta. He skipped past two players with neat footwork and threaded the ball to Messi. Messi, one on one with substitute goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, delicately lofted the ball over the advancing keeper before volleying into the net. It was a truly wonderful finish and another feather on the illustrious bow Messi is amassing.
Arsenal, who found it extremely difficult to even create a chance against Barcelona, found themselves surprisingly even after 53 minutes. Having won a corner from nothing, Sergio Busquets handed the visitors a gift by heading into his own goal.
The referee made a shocking decision minutes later when he dismissed Robin van Persie, issuing a second yellow card for kicking the ball away. The Arsenal man argued that he hadn't worth the whistle amidst the noise of 100,000 spectators in the stadium, but his protests went unheard.
Barcelona responded and were back ahead on the 69th minute. Some more great work from Iniesta and Villa led to Xavi bearing down on goal. He made no mistake, the ball deflecting into the goal off Djorou.
Barcelona extended their lead two minutes later as Pedro was brought down in the box. Leo Messi stepped up to take the penalty and dispatched the ball calmly in the corner.
Messi now has 45 goals in all competitions for Barcelona this season, and is the leading scorer in the Champions League with 8 goals.
Barcelona could have added to their tally and saw out the remaining 20 minutes to see them advance into the Quarter Finals of the Champions League. Forza Barca!
