Barcelona fans unfurled an enormous banner before their Champions League last-16 second leg clash against Chelsea. The message read "God save the King!" That king is Lionel Messi.
Ahead of these teams' first meeting at Stamford Bridge in February, much of the talk had centered around Messi never having scored against Chelsea. A late leveler to cancel out Willian's strike put paid to that, however, and the Argentine was clearly in the mood for more here.
It took him just over two minutes to influence proceedings as he found space on the right and drilled a low shot through the legs of Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to make it 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate.
And later in a first half in which Chelsea caused Barca quite a few problems, the Argentine embarked on one of those remarkable runs of his, taking on three players and dragging defenders in his direction before squaring for Ousmane Dembele to blast home his first goal for the Catalan club.
Messi's first two touches in the opposition area had been a goal and an assist. It was as devastating as it was brilliant and although Marcos Alonso hit the post with a free-kick in first half stoppage time, the Blues looked shell-shocked.
Chelsea started the second period positively and Barca boss Ernesto Valverde was an animated figure as he barked instructions to his players, with Alonso again a threat for the visitors.
However, Messi, who was being watched by Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli, raced into the area after 63 minutes and again found the gap between Courtois' legs, this time with a powerful left-footed drive, to score his 100th Champions League goal.
It was also his sixth in this season's competition after something of a slow start in the group stages. Here he was, back at his breathtaking best when it mattered most to destroy a team renowned for their defensive discipline.
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