Messi out of this world (3-0)

Messi out of this world (3-0)

The World and European Player of the Year destroyed Valencia with a second half hat trick to give Barca the points at the Nou Camp tonight. Led by the brilliant Argentinean the team put in an excellent second half performance.

In a game full of missing names - Villa, Ibrahimovic, Puyol, Keita, Marchena, Abidal and David Navarro all missed the match – Messi put in one of his best ever performances in a Barca shirt with a hat trick in the second half, as Barca overpowered Valencia’s resistance.



Opposite styles

It was clear from the start how the two teams had decided to face the game. Barca stuck to their usual attacking style, whilst Valencia aimed to hit their hosts on the break even though they tried to hold onto possession, Barca lost the ball far too often in their own half and Valencia were quick to pounce and launch their speedy counter attacks, with Pablo a constant threat to Maxwell and Jordi Alba shifting position constantly. Valdes was again the hero, pulling off a series of vital stops, as the team found it hard to settle.



Two first half chances

Messi came close on two occasions, though even he didn’t seem to be sharp enough in front of goal, but soon the game began to turn Barca’s way as they imposed their possession on the game and their passing game began to click. Guardiola – tonight watching from the stands – must have been relieved to see the team begin to recover their dominance as the half came to a close and at the break he switched Henry for Bojan, who’d been playing down the left, with the Frenchman taking over in the centre of the attack.



Messi’s genius


Henry was soon making his presence felt, setting up Messi, who again failed to make the most of his chance. The Argentinean star had let Valencia off the hook once too often though and in a fantastic individual move, beat Banega and Bruno before swerving past Dealbert and firing past Cesar for a wonderful goal to put Barca one up.



Valdés decisive

Valencia, who’d shown no danger since the break, now had to try and get back into the game and Emery brought on Zigic for ‘Chori’ Domínguez and the giant Serb might have equalised soon after coming on but for a great save from Valdes. Immediately after his save, Valencia suffered another blow as Maduro picked up his second yellow for bringing down Messi.

Two more strikes from Messi

Down to 10 men, Valencia had no answer to Barca’s might and Messi, ably assisted by Henry, thrilled the Nou Camp with two more strikes and was rewarded for his fourth Barca hat trick with a standing ovation when he was subbed late on.