Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi broke a tie with Cristiano Ronaldo as his eighth
Champions League treble made him the most prolific hat-trick scorer in
the competition’s history, earning him more high praise from Barcelona
boss Ernesto Valverde.
The Argentina superstar had been level with Ronaldo, but lit up
Camp Nou with an incredible performance in Tuesday’s Group B encounter.
Barca had struggled for the opening half hour, but a vintage Messi
free-kick broke the deadlock. After a wonderful individual effort from
Ousmane Dembele, Messi scored twice in the final 13 minutes, which also
saw Samuel Umtiti sent off.
He now has 48 hat-tricks in his remarkable career, and has netted
more Champions League goals than PSV, scoring 103 to their 102, leaving
Valverde to lavish praise on the 31-year-old.
“Messi is normal because we always see it,” Valverde said to the Champions League TV channel. “In any of us it would be abnormal, but he does extraordinary things and makes them routine.”
On the free-kick, he added: “We needed to unclog the match. It was masterful.
“It was difficult to make the first goal, in the second half we
started well, dominating the game, but at 1-0 there was danger, with
the second goal we were calmer.”
While Messi’s record-breaking showing made a fine start for
Barcelona, the club are looking to break rival Madrid’s stranglehold on
the Champions League, which the La Liga side have won the last three
years
Asked about Barca’s desire to end the dominance of their arch rivals and win the competition themselves, Valverde said: “Who
is not motivated for the Champions League? There are only six games [in
the group stage] and we know the importance of each one.”