“We have seen the calm that Messi has to finish inside the area as if he was in the school yard.”
Those were the words of Barcelona coach Luis Enrique after the Argentine ran riot through Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City defence as though it was a ‘playground game’ in their UEFA Champions League match on Wednesday.
“If there is anything you can expect of Messi it is that. It doesn’t matter how many days he has been out or the games he has missed,” Enrique stated.Messi was “phenomenal,” added Barcelona defender Samuel Umtitei.
“There will never be anyone like him. It is incredible what he did,” added fellow defender Lucas Digne.
Barcelona joined Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain in registering important wins on Wednesday night.The Argentine genius was hailed for his composure after a month out with a groin injury.
Before 96,290 people at Camp Nou, Messi picked up on one City mistake on 17 minutes and added two more — one brilliantly curled in — in the second half after City keeper Carlos Bravo was sent off.
Guardiola is now under pressure with City second in group C, five points behind leaders Barcelona and just one ahead of Borussia Moenchengladbach.
