Lionel Messi scores his 100th UCL career goal to beat Chelsea 3-0

UCL

Round of 16

Chelsea's hard-fought battle was in vain as FC Barcelona booked a place into the Quarterfinals with a 3-0 victory and a 4-1 scoreline on aggregate.

Chelsea was stunned as early as the 3rd minute by a swift one-touch play between Messi-Dembele-Suarez saw the ball fall to the talisman himself, Lionel Messi nutmegged the ball through Thibaut Courtois' legs to hand the Catalans the early lead.

In the 20th minute, Messi's extravagant run saw him beat off two Chelsea defenders and play the ball to Ousmane Dembele who scored his first ever Barcelona goal to make it 2-0.

Chelsea had brilliant chances throughout the course of the game, which was either fluffed or brilliantly kept out by Ter Stegen and the Barcelona defense. 

Lionel Messi struck again in the 63rd minute to complete Barcelona's dominance and keep them on course for a historic treble this season. It was the Argentine's 100th UCL goal.

Chelsea joined Man United and Tottenham as the three English sides dropping out of the UCL this season. They are now competing for only one trophy this season, the FA Cup. 

Barcelona Vs Chelsea
2nd Leg Preview

The most anticipated contest in the UCL this week is set to take center stage tonight as La Liga heavyweights FC Barcelona welcome Premier League champions Chelsea to the Nou Camp.

The 1st Leg encounter between the two ended with honors even as Barcelona's talisman, the great Lionel Messi finally broke his duck in his 9th meeting against Chelsea to secure a precious away goal and cancel out Willian's opener.

Barcelona head into this fixture as favorites with the all-important away goal and will progress if neither team manages to score tonight.

The pair last faced each other in a 2-leg encounter back in 2012 in the semi-finals, when Chelsea went on to win the 1st leg at home and scored 2 goals at Nou Camp to progress to the finals and win the UCL title against Bayern Munich on penalties.

Team News:

Barcelona:

Right back Nelson Semedo (hamstring) and central midfielder Denis Suarez (muscle tear) have been sidelined through injury.

New summer arrival Phillippe Coutinho is ineligible to play each of Barcelona's UCL games this season after already being featured for Liverpool.

Chelsea:

Ross Barkley (hamstring) is the only casualty in the Chelsea first team.

Key Battles:

Hazard Vs. Roberto:

Eden Hazard is considered as the greatest left-sided playmaker in the UCL and in Europe. He is set for his toughest test this season against Barcelona and hopes to get the better off his opponent and the player he is most likely to go up against, Sergi Roberto.

Roberto's most valuable contribution in any 2nd Leg in the UCL will be his injury-time winner against PSG, which made the scoreline 6-5 on aggregate and gained Barcelona progress. He needs to remain sound as the Right back tonight and keep a track on Hazard's movement and especially his runs.

Messi Vs. Alonso:

Lionel Messi doesn't need any introduction, the guy is just magically gifted and talented! If Barcelona is to seal progress to the last-8, he will give a major contribution to it.

He will be up against Chelsea's left wingback Marcos Alonso, a player who been in terrific form this season. But defensively, there are still questions that need to be answered should he fail to pass his test against Messi.

L.Suarez Vs. Christensen:

Luis Suarez is no stranger to facing an English side who he has scored against in the past and needs to be at his best when he faces his opponent in defense.

Andreas Christensen, who is playing just his first full season with Chelsea has stood up to all the major tests he has faced so far., facing Suarez would be his toughest one yet. He needs to keep track of Suarez' movement and keep him at bay.

Predictions:

 FC Barcelona (2-1) Chelsea

Chelsea has a bad away-form in the PL with 3 consecutive losses and will find it very difficult to pick up a victory at the Nou Camp. If they get the first goal, they need to put in their best defensive performance so far this season. If they score twice, they win the tie hands down.

Be on the lookout for former Barcelona players Pedro and Cesc Fabregas who could have a telling say along with former Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata.

Barcelona does have a better squad than Chelsea on paper, but the eventual decision lies on which team performs better. They need to get the home crowd behind them if they need to progress to the Round of 16.