Lionel Messi produced another masterclass and Barcelona played with newfound vigor to beat Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday and qualify for the Champions League knockout stage for the 16th consecutive season.
Messi scored and assisted Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann in the 3-1 win at the Camp Nou, easing the pressure on Ernesto Valverde’s side after a run of unconvincing results.
Four points ahead of second-place Inter with one match to go, Barcelona will finish as winners of Group F.
Doubts over the construction of the squad and its laborious style of play resurfaced following Sunday’s narrow 2-1 victory over Leganes. But the Blaugrana offered more in attack against Lucien Favre’s struggling Dortmund side.
It helped to have Messi in dominant form. In his 700th appearance for the club, the Argentine completed an amazing 11 dribbles and caused all sorts of havoc in the final third.
Suarez received a smart ball from Messi to open the scoring in the 29th minute and returned the favor minutes later. A quick one-two sent Messi into the area, and Dortmund could do nothing about it.
After Griezmann made it 3-0, Messi unleashed an audacious free-kick from a tight angle that …read more