Magical Lionel Messi leads Barcelona over Liverpool

Luis Suarez and a superb Lionel Messi lead Barcelona past Liverpool in Champions League semifinal.

Are there any superlatives left to describe Lionel Messi? That’s the million-dollar questions as the Argentine once again delivers a special performance in Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Liverpool in the first leg of their semifinal.

In what many considered the game that should have been the final, Lionel Messi scored a brace to all but put Barcelona through to the Champions League final. More and more this Barcelona team has really become Lionel Messi and ten others. Anything Barcelona does is because of Messi and that was the case once again.

Luis Suarez opened the score off a pass from Jordi Alba in which the Uruguayan delivered a deft flick to put the ball past Allison. Up until then it had been a pretty even game with both sides trying to get a feel for one another. It would stay that way entering the break.

Liverpool came out strong attacking Barcelona on their flanks with regularity and with success. But a giveaway in midfield led to Messi getting the ball and laying it off for Sergi Roberto who left it for Suarez but who’s shot hit off the crossbar. But Messi was there to chest the ball down and essentially walk it to the back of the net much to the delight of the Camp Nou faithful.

But the real highlight would come a few minutes later when Messi was fouled well outside the penalty area. The range looked a bit too far for him but he delivered once again placing the ball in the only place Allison wasn’t going to get to.

It was the exclamation point to another wonderful performance by him and seemingly sealed the deal for his side. His two goals against Liverpool now means that he has 600 official goals to his name. An outrageous number.

In this edition of the tournament, he’s already put two past Tottenham, Manchester United, and now Liverpool. More often than not, he continues to show why he is largely considered the best player of all time.

“Messi-dependencia” is something that’s been labeled at past Barcelona sides but it truly applies to this one. It seems that as older he gets, the more the team relies on him and what’s even more impressive is he is still, more or less, the same player from a decade ago and at 32 years-old no less.

It’s been said countless times but it bears repeating. We may not see another player like him in our lifetimes and we won’t really appreciate just how good he is/was until he retires. In their toughest test of the season, Messi put Barcelona on his back and now sit comfortably ahead of their return leg at Anfield.