BARCELONA: A fired-up Lionel Messi led Barcelona to a 3-1 win at home to Napoli last night for a 4-2 aggregate victory which took the club into the Champions League quarter-finals for the 13th consecutive season where they face Bayern Munich.
The Catalans had a shaky start but took the lead in the 10th minute with a powerful header from a corner by Clement Lenglet before Messi scored a superb second in the 23rd, seeing off four defenders to curl the ball into the far bottom corner.
Messi had the ball in the net again soon after following a superb team move but the goal was harshly ruled out for handball by the Argentine following a VAR review, although Messi later won a penalty which Luis Suarez converted for Barca’s third.
Napoli got one back when Lorenzo Insigne converted a spot kick at the end of the first half and were the better side after the interval but Barca survived to set up a mouth-watering clash with Bayern in the Final Eight tournament in Lisbon next Friday.
Robert Lewandowski struck twice as Bayern Munich cruised past Chelsea 4-1 last night to reach the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-1 aggregate victory and remain on course for a treble of titles.
The Bavarians, who won the domestic league and Cup double, quickly killed off the tie with a ninth minute Lewandowski penalty, after having won 3-0 in London in the first leg in February. Bayern will be on an 18-game winning streak across all competitions as they head into next week’s Final Eight tournament in Lisbon.
Chelsea, who conceded seven goals in a two-legged European tie for the first time, got onto the scoresheet with Tammy Abraham’s tap-in from a Manuel Neuer pass a minute before the break.