BARCELONA (AFP) - Lionel Messi pounced on two Manchester United mistakes to score twice and end their hopes of another Camp Nou comeback as Barcelona breezed into the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday (April 16).
After an excellent start, United were undone twice in four minutes by Messi, who first nicked the ball off the careless Ashley Young and then watched as a weak shot from distance squirmed underneath David de Gea.
Philippe Coutinho, in perhaps his best performance of the season, added a third with a curling effort into the top corner and by the end, an outclassed United might have been relieved the score was not more traumatic than 3-0, 4-0 on aggregate.
A dizzying opening spell, in which Marcus Rashford had hit the crossbar, was long-forgotten, even if it could offer Barcelona's next opponents some encouragement.
Liverpool, who take a 2-0 lead to Porto on Wednesday, are the most likely obstacle between Barca and their first Champions League final since they last won this tournament in 2015. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane might feel encouraged.
Instead, United's pair of early errors made this another night about Messi and ensured any faint hopes of repeating the comeback against Paris Saint-Germain, or even the famous 1999 rescue act against Bayern Munich, on this same pitch, were dashed.
Messi now has his 109th and 110th Champions League goals and, potentially, three extra matches to reduce the gap on Cristiano Ronaldo's 126, after Juventus were dumped out by Ajax. Barcelona's fans celebrated that too.
United's coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had urged his strikers to be more lethal here but it felt ominous that even before kick-off, Rashford, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez had hit 42 goals this season, while Messi on his own had 43.
Around an hour before kick-off, Alex Ferguson was on the side of the pitch, shaking hands with Ryan Giggs and sharing words with Solskjaer, the scorer of that goal against Munich here 20 years ago.
They could have hardly have asked for a better start. United were brilliant for eight minutes and could have been ahead within 30 seconds as Rashford raced onto a curving Paul Pogba pass and toed away a shot, which Marc-Andre ter Stegen bravely left to graze his own crossbar.
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Barca were flustered, so much so the crowd even cheered with relief when Arthur Melo played his team's first convincing pass.
Then, Barcelona had their own eight-minute flurry as United almost conceded a penalty, ruled out after Fred took the ball before bringing down Ivan Rakitic, and then did concede, twice, to Messi.
Both could have been avoided, even if Young's turn on the edge of his own box was punished in devastating fashion. Young lunged in to atone for his mistake but Messi skipped away from him, poked it through Fred's legs and then whipped the ball past into the corner.
The second was simpler. Fred and Scott McTominay closed in on Coutinho and the ball spilled out to Messi, whose dribbling shot with his right foot should have drawn a routine save. Instead, De Gea let is squirm under his body for 2-0.
Pogba lashed out at the increasingly influential Arthur and Barca could have had a third before half-time, De Gea scrambling across to save on the line when Sergi Roberto should have finished.
Messi could have had his hat-trick too after Luis Suarez found him with a superb cutback and there was an almost comical sequence in the second half when the Argentinian played with his United chasers before finally being bundled over by McTominay.
Rashford might have made it interesting if he had controlled Pogba's ball over the top but Barcelona were in exhibition mode, helped by a vintage Coutinho curler after he had cut inside from the left.
Messi even attempted a bicycle kick and there were celebrations from the home fans when news went round that Ajax had taken the lead in Turin. They believe this is their year.
Former Football Association of Singapore (FAS) General Secretary, Winston Lee informed the FAS of his decision to withdraw his candidacy for the AFC Executive Committee (Asean Zone) in the 29th
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Football: Guardiola dismisses Klopp's claim that Man City have no weaknesses MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) - Pep Guardiola on Friday (Dec 21) dismissed Jurgen Klopp's suggestion that Manchester City are a team with no sign of weakness as the two battle for the Premier League title.
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BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - An uncharacteristically angry Lionel Messi revealed on Friday (March 29) how he struggles to deal with criticism of his performances for Argentina's national team, saying that
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Messi shines as Barca survive scare to see off Rayo Lionel Messi created a goal and scored another as Barcelona came from behind to beat struggling Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at home on Saturday and stay seven points clear at the top of La Liga.
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Eusebio Di Francesco was sacked as Roma coach after the team crashed out of the Champions League, the Italian club confirmed on Thursday, with former boss Claudio Ranieri tipped to replace him. Roma had taken a 2-1 advantage to Porto for the second leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday but fell 4-3
The English champions released a statement bemoaning the "hostile process" undertaken by European football's governing body after former Belgian Prime Minister and current chairman and chief investigator of UEFA's club financial control body determined that there is a case to be answered regarding suspected violations of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
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Fulham secured their first clean sheet of the season with some dogged defending in a 0-0 draw with Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday. The hosts, looking for a second successive
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U.S. businesses optimistic on China growth, bemoan unfair
Former Brunei DPMM striker Rafael Ramazotti has inked a deal to turn out for Hougang United in the Singapore Premier League According to a source close to the club, Ramazotti put pen to paper on Sunday and will arrive in Singapore on Tuesday to begin pre-season training with his new club.
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Impressive Burnley fight back to beat Bournemouth 3-1 Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Burnley - Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain - April 6, 2019 Burnleys Ashley Barnes scores their third goal REUTERS/Peter Nicholls (Reuters) - Burnley made a big step towards securing Pr
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Also, Icelandic governmental officials provided logistical and other support, in particular, Mr. Steingnmur Hermannsson, Director, Icelandic National Research Council and Professor Magnus Magnusson, Director, University of Iceland Science Institute. Iceland as a Model for Chemical Alteration on Mars. NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
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the land. The lonely cry of the gyrfalcon can still be heard in the hills of Iceland. But to this day their lives are still intrinsically intertwined; some gyrfalcons dine solely on
LONDON • Unbelievable, unforgettable, unyielding. For many years to come, Liverpool fans will recall with pride what their passionate, inspired team did on Tuesday night.. Read more at
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