On This Day: Throwback to when FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi crushed Arsenal with a 4-goal Extravaganza in the Champions League


On This Day: Throwback to when FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi crushed Arsenal with a 4-goal Extravaganza in the Champions League

Arsenal came in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League 2009-10 with hopes of making through to the semi-finals after entering the game with a 2-2 draw in the previous leg. However, Lionel Messi had some other plans and he made sure that the fans at Camp Nou didn’t go home disappointed after scoring a poker against Arsene Wenger’s men.

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It started on a positive note for the Gunners as Nicklas Bendtner gave them the lead in the 18th minute. However, after that, it was the Messi show that rocked the whole game. The Argentine dotted one in the top corner after receiving a pass from Pedro with the accuracy of a sharpshooter.

Messi skillfully chipped the ball over the goalkeeper

Then he went on to score two goals chipping the ball over the goalkeeper’s head in pure Messiesque fashion. La Pulga could be seen throughout the pitch that night creating passes, scoring goals, or just running around the pitch with the ball at his feet and there was nothing that Arsenal could do stop him.

Then he finished the game with the icing on the cake, scoring a goal after receiving a pass from Xavi, and then dribbling through two defenders to finally put the ball through the legs of the goalkeeper into the back of the net, leaving him on the ground completely dusted.

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Overall this was the night when Messi owned the pitch and received plaudits from everywhere once the game was over. Arsenal’s then manager, Arsene Wenger compared him to a “Play Station console” and highlighted, “I think he can take advantage of every mistake you make.Barcelona are a very good side but of course they have Messi who can make the difference at any moment in the game.”

“He is very young but he can achieve a lot – there are not many players who can score four goals like he did,” added Wenger.

FC Barcelona’s victory over Arsenal marked the dawn of the Lionel Messi era

Messi put up a staggering display for the fans and gave them hope for all that was to come in the future. Little did anyone know that this would be the start of the ‘Messi Era,’ where he lifted four consecutive Ballon d’ors from 2009 to 2012 and raised it to a total of 7 Ballon d’ors at the end of 2021.

Messi currently has 761 goals against his name in 965 games with 0.79 goals per game ratio which puts him at the top of the list, even higher than Ronaldo who currently sits at 0.73 goals per game.

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La Pulga currently plays with PSG for whom he has scored 8 goals and 10 assists as of now.

Also read:“We are facing an extraordinary team, they play in a dynamic way with a lot of players in the attack”- Diego Simeone’s honest confession after losing 1-0 to Manchester City in UCL 2021-22 quarter-finals

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