Barcelona 4-0 PSV Eindhoven: Lionel Messi treble gets Barca off to Champions League flyer



Posted Wednesday, September 19, 2018 by PA

Barcelona 4-0 PSV Eindhoven: Lionel Messi treble gets Barca off to Champions League flyer

Lionel Messi scored the eighth Champions League hat-trick of his career as 10-man Barcelona eased to an emphatic 4-0 victory over PSV in Group B.

The Argentinian was once again in imperious form as the hosts overcame a low-key start to cruise past their Dutch opponents, with Ousmane Dembele also getting on the scoresheet.

The only blot on another great Nou Camp night was Samuel Umtiti’s 78th-minute sending-off for a second bookable offence after a foul on PSV winger Hirving Lozano.

Barcelona 4-0 PSV Eindhoven: Lionel Messi treble gets Barca off to Champions League flyer
Lionel Messi proved too good for PSV (Manu Fernandez/AP)

By that point Messi’s magic had long put the game to bed, but PSV will be left to rue the fact that had they made more of their bright start they could have still been pushing for a point.

When Messi opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, curling a delicious free-kick into the top corner after Dembele had been pulled down, it was the home side’s first shot on target.

PSV had started with confidence and had the first real chance when Gaston Pereiro fired over the bar in the eighth minute.

Barca looked lacklustre with the exception of Philippe Coutinho, whose tireless probing up front almost led to the opener when he just failed to steer home a Luis Suarez cross.

Ivan Rakitic had a shot blocked in the box but it was a largely frustrating first quarter of the game for the hosts, while PSV enjoyed by far the better of the chances and threatened on the counter-attack.

Messi’s opening effort changed the momentum immediately, with Rakitic coming close with two more chances prior to the half-time whistle.

Barcelona 4-0 PSV Eindhoven: Lionel Messi treble gets Barca off to Champions League flyer
Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal against PSV (Manu Fernandez/AP)

After the break, Messi visibly stepped up his tempo, driving a shot which PSV keeper Jeroen Zoet had to fingertip away, while Zoet also had to be alert to collect a poor back pass under threat from Suarez.

Suarez missed a chance to make it 2-0 from a cross by the excellent Coutinho, who also brought another fine save out of Zoet just before the hour mark.

Dembele finally doubled Barcelona’s lead in stunning fashion in the 74th minute when he burst onto the end of a Coutinho pass, danced past defender Daniel Schwab and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner from outside the box.

Three minutes later it was all over as Messi added his second, finishing off after being put in by a clever lob from Rakitic.

Umtiti’s red card came too late to affect proceedings and Messi added yet another hat-trick to his Champions League list when he finished superbly two minutes from time after a clever back-heel from Suarez.



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