Lionel Messi’s late double inspired Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Nou Camp.
The former coach of the Catalan giants described his former star as ‘unstoppable’ in his pre-match press conference and it proved to be the case as Messi was the difference on an exhilarating night of football.
Having seen Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer frustrate Barca for much of the encounter, the two sides looked set to head back to the Allianz Arena next week with the tie finely poised at 0-0.
But Messi, playing in his 100th European game, produced another sparkling display to put Barca in command, breaking the deadlock with a rasping 77th-minute opener.
And the Argentina forward doubled his tally three minutes later with a superb solo goal before an injury-time third from Neymar effectively ended the tie as Barca went some way to gaining a measure of revenge for the 7-0 aggregate loss to Bayern at the same stage two years ago.