Barcelona reach Champions League semi-finals with Messi exhibition against Manchester United

Lionel Messi produced another masterful Champions League performance to knock out Manchester United and fire Barcelona into the semi-finals in a 3-0 home win on Tuesday.It was Barcelonas first time of reaching the semi-final of the competition in four years.Barca, who toyed with United for the majority of the encounter, sealed a 4-0 aggregate victory and will meet either Porto or Liverpool in the last four.Messi had failed to score in his last 12 quarter-final appearances, but he settled his sides nerves after a bright start from United.Collecting a misplaced pass from Ashley Young, Messi curled the ball into the bottom corner in the 16th minute.The Argentine then pounced on another lapse from Uniteds defence four minutes later to win back possession high up the pitch and fire a shot from outside the box.The ball then slipped under the arms of visiting keeper David de Gea.Philippe Coutinho finished off a therapeutic win for the Catalans, after three quarter-final failures in a row, by curling into the top corner in the second half.United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaers greatest night as a player came at the Nou Camp.But after losing the first leg at Old Trafford 1-0, his team needed to become the first side to win a European game there in 31 matches in order to progress.They clung to the hope of another famous European escape act after last months miraculous 3-1 win at Paris St Germain and made a strong start as Marcus Rashford hit the crossbar in the opening stages.They also survived a scare when a penalty awarded to Barca for an apparent foul by Fred on Ivan Rakitic was overturned after a VAR review.Yet their hopes were soon extinguished when Young was caught in possession on the left wing and Messi seized the ball.He scurred across the pitch and held off more United defenders before bending a superb shot past the outstretched De Gea.The Spanish goalkeeper was left embarrassed for Messis second goal as the Argentines tame shot crept under his body.United looked down and out and Messi nearly dealt them further pain before halftime by sparking another quick break, but this time De Gea thwarted the Catalans.De Gea was taunted by Barca fans in the second half, which turned into a procession for the home side and the out-of-form Coutinho turned up the party atmosphere with his sensational strike.The nearest United came to finding the target after the break came when Barca keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen turned an Alexis Sanchez header around the post late on. (Reuters/NAN)
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