Two goals from Argentine Leo Messi were enough to secure a victory for Barcelona in their opening group G match against Spartak Moscow.
An opening goal from Christian Tello after 14 minutes of play put the Blaugranas in the lead only for it to be cut back by a brilliant “own goal” from Dani Alves who stunned Valdés by back heeling the ball into his own net!
A strike from Brazilian Borges Romulo who caught out Barca on the counter attack made it 1-2 to the Moscow outfit. Barca seemed to be on the rack for a while as the Russian team were pretty well organised defensively and were adept a blocking out the Catalan attacks.
The second half started off and Barca tried to push the ball forward, only to be run wide by the well organised Spartak defenders. For a moment, you were left thinking that all Spartak had to do was hang on in there to secure a victory. It was just an illusion though as Messi stepped up to the plate after a quiet game by his standards.
Tello rounded a defender and headed for goal only to find the little Argentine on his own who quickly found the net with ease, just slotting it past Dykan. Just ten minutes later, not content with a draw Barca went on the attack again. This time, Pedro provided the assist with a cross that found the smallest guy on the pitch; Messi. He out-jumped two Spartak defenders to head home Pedro’s cross in a goal area full of red shirts – awesome stuff!
That brace from Messi takes his tally to ten goals this season and his fourth double!
