Last Wednesday, Lionel Messi recorded his 600th goal for Barcelona during his club’s 3-0 Champions League semifinal first leg victory over Liverpool. It was an astonishing free kick, the 42nd of his Barça career, that venomously flew right past Joe Gomez’s face before curling into the top corner from 35 yards out.
Everything about it was spectacular: the technique with the left foot, the power, the swerve, the placement; the 6 foot 3 inch Alisson had absolutely no chance of clawing it out, and the Camp Nou, with a season-high attendance of 98,299, rose in unison to proclaim the 31-year-old’s unending genius.
Of the 98,299 at the stadium, many had their phones out in expectation of another piece of Messi magic. Take a look at the resulting videos:
It’s timing, in the 82nd minute, was crucial. After Luis Suárez opened the scoring in the 26th minute, Liverpool spent the next 45 looking the side that’d grab the game’s second goal. But an intricate foray forward ended with Suárez hitting the crossbar before Messi provided the tap-in for Barça’s second in the 75th, and then this strike only seven minutes later somehow transformed a commendable Liverpool performance into an insurmountable defeat.
The return leg is Tuesday, May 7, at Anfield, but Liverpool will be without the injured duo of Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
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