So Barcelona may not have gotten the result against Bayer Leverkusen they would have wanted, but Lionel Messi once again showed that him 1 on 1 with a goal keeper is absolutely no contest.
In the 20th minute, Ivan Rakitic played a perfectly timed diagonal ball that connected with Messi in a defense spitting play. It was beautiful, and left Messi in so much space I wondered if he would call an old friend and “catch up on old times” before he scored. Instead, he just scored.
Unfortunately for Messi, his effort would be equaled out a few minutes later when Javier Hernandez scored.
Photo: @ShiWantsTheC | Twitter
So, because of Hernandez and that Messi goal Leverkusen drops to the Europa League, while Barcelona advances to the Champions League knockout round.
Messi is now on 80 career Champions League goals, second only to Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of 88.
Barcelona finishes first in its group, meaning that it will be matched up with a second place finisher. Any one of several tough draws could be served to the club, as Paris Saint Germain, Juventus, and Arsenal among others have all finished in second place.
Messi and Barcelona's next game takes place Saturday, December 12th at 10:00 am EST and is against Deportivo in La Liga.
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