Staff Writers
On Wednesday, March 14, Barcelona defeated Chelsea 3-0 in a home second-leg matchup at the Camp Nou, leading the Catalan giants into the Champions League quarter finals. Going into the second leg, it was 1-1, so the 3-0 win gave Barca a 4-1 victory on aggregate.
The star of the show was yet again Lionel Messi. The Argentine followed up a first-leg goal with two more goals plus an assist in the second leg. After another brilliant performance, midfielder Andres Iniesta explained how it is “so difficult to say any new things about Leo.” per ESPN. Iniesta and Messi have been playing together at Barcelona since Messi made his professional debut in 2004.
Messi became the fastest player to score one hundred goals in the Champions League. He accomplished the feat in just 123 matches. Messi joined his fellow rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the only other player to reach the century mark in Europe’s elite club competition. The only difference between the two stars is that it took the Real Madrid superstar 144 games to reach the mark.
After the draw on Friday, it was determined that Barcelona will face AS Roma in the quarter finals. The first leg will be on April 4. The other quarter final matchups are Sevilla vs. Bayern Munich, Juventus vs. Real Madrid, and Liverpool vs. Manchester City.
