The brilliance of Lionel Messi has handed Barcelona a 3-0 advantage to take back to Anfield in their Champions League semi-final clash against Liverpool.
The Catalan club took the lead in the first half through Luis Suarez, who diverted Jordi Alba’s low cross past Alisson.
The Reds controlled the second half, but were unable to get the breakthrough as James Milner was denied twice, while Mohamed Salah also saw an effort well saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Messi got the second goal for Barca in slight fortuitous circumstances when a loose ball fell towards Suarez in the box. He struck the bar and it bounced out straight to Messi to convert.
However, the third was anything but lucky as the Argentine curled a sensational free-kick into the top corner, scoring his 600th goal for Barcelona.
Liverpool could have scored a vital away goal when Roberto Firmino’s shot was cleared off the line, while Salah hit the post with the rebound.
Even Barca could have had further goals, but Ousmane Dembele lost his composure twice. Ernesto Valverde’s men hold a three-goal lead, but a lot could change next week at Anfield.
