Another day, another Lionel Messi milestone. The Barcelona skipper once again etched his name in his club's history books in Tuesday's Champions League quarter final clash with Manchester United.
First, the 30-year-old Argentine forward surpassed his former skipper Andres Iniesta to become the player with the second highest number of appearances in the European cup competition with 133 for the Catalans. Momentarily, Xavi Hernandez tops the list with 157 appearances.
Messi surpasses @andresiniesta8 and becomes the Barça player with the second most appearances in the @championsleague #BarçaMUFC pic.twitter.com/wsreQGZ4wp
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 16, 2019
To his most recognizable feat of the night, Lionel Messi finally broke the deadlock of not scoring in the quarter final of the Champions League in six years by setting Barca right on course to seal progression into the semis.
"One of the best live performances I've ever seen."
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 16, 2019
"There will be Man Utd fans here, disappointed, but they can they saw Messi perform at this level."
Another Lionel Messi clinic has our team in awe pic.twitter.com/qkhchFnJwN
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner pounced on a defensive mistake by Ashley Young to slot home his side's opener in the 16th minute before forcing David De Gea to commit a goalkeeping error four minutes later for his second.
As a result, Messi took his tally against English clubs to 24 in 32 Champions League appearance, making him the player with the most goals against teams from the Premiership in the competition's history.
Meanwhile, Philippe Coutinho grabbed Barcelona's third of the night to seal a 4-0 aggregate win for the Camp Nou oufit.
FINALLY!!!! And it's trouble for Manchester United who are now 3-0 down on aggregate! #UCL #BARMUN pic.twitter.com/PmE3kBJPlZ
— LiveSoccerTV.com (@LiveSoccerTV) April 16, 2019
