Barcelona 3 Bayern Munich 0 player ratings: Lionel Messi scores twice - but does he score highest in our ratings?
A look at the individual performances at the Nou Camp
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Your support makes all the difference.Cometh the hour cometh the man and Barcelona's Lionel Messi stepped up to the mark in sensational fashion on Wednesday night.
As a high-quality and compelling Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich looked to be heading for a goalless draw, the Argentine maestro took centre stage.
After 77 minutes of toil trying to break down a disciplined Bayern defence and the world's best goalkeeper in Manuel Neuer, Messi struck like a cobra.
The German champions lost possession on the left, Dani Alves picked up the ball and passed it to Messi who sent a left-foot shot fizzing into the bottom corner from 20 metres.
Three minutes later, Messi gathered the ball and turned on the after-burners to leave Jerome Boateng for dead before dinking a precise shot nonchalantly over Neuer, his record 77th goal in Europe's premier club competition.
"When Messi is inspired he is unstoppable and tonight he showed his talent again," Barca defender Gerard Pique told Spanish television.
Neymar added a third goal in stoppage time to seal a 3-0 win for the La Liga leaders but it was the brilliant Messi who had made the difference.
"He is just a player who is impossible to describe," Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano said. "You have to watch him."
Here, we take a look at how Messi and all the others performed at the Nou Camp...
Do you think anyone else but Messi deserved man-of-the-match? Let us know in the comments below.
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