Leo Messi confirmed his return from injury with two goals and an assist as FC Barcelona assured they will qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League as winners of their group after a crushing 6-1 win at home to Roma.
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Messi almost marked his return to starting line-up with a goal in the fourth minute, but Wojciech Szczesny produced a fine save to keep out the Argentine’s effort from the edge of the box.
The hosts refused to relent after the break, Messi sliding across for Pique to tap home his 10th Champions League goal.
Edin Dzeko managed to score a consolation goal for Roma in the dying moments for Roma, getting them on the score sheet.
Messi showed no rust from his time on the sideline recovering from a ligament he tore on September 26. Now Messi is back, and his supporting cast improved tremendously during his absence.
“It felt good to play the 90 minutes”, Messi told the official UEFA website after his side advanced to the last 16. He just has to get his physical tone and match sharpness back, which he’ll do by playing.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has revealed that he’s still striving for improvement, despite watching his team tear Roma to pieces in the Champions League with a 6-1 win against the Serie A title chasers this week.
Mesut Ozil put the Gunners on the way to a vital victory, but Arsene Wenger’s perennial qualifiers for the knockout stages still trail Olympiakos by three points and must next go to Greece to decide who finishes second in the group. Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller scored inside the first 20 minutes. Barcelona was in control from the first minute and asserted itself when Luis Suarez virtually walked a goal into the net in the 15th minute to grab his first on a two-goal day.
Barcelona underlined their status as one of the favourites to win the competition with another convincing performance, just days after beating La Liga rivals Real Madrid 4-0 in the Bernabeu.
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The situation appears rather more straightforward for Chelsea, who cruised to a 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel with Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma on target. “That’s all there is to it. The good news arrived before it even kicked off, as BATE Borisov and Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1, so it means we have destiny at our feet”.
