Thierry Henry lavished praise on Barcelona forward Lionel Messi after the Argentine inspired his side to a 3-0 Champions League semi-final first leg win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday. Lionel Messi scored twice and at the 90-minute mark when Bayern may have felt that they had been punished enough Neymar made it 3-0.
The Argentina international scored twice and laid on an assist for Neymar as Luis Enrique's side ran out comprehensive 3-0 winners over German champions Bayern Munich.
After a breathless first-half at Camp Nou, Messi scored twice before setting up Neymar for a potentially vital third in injury time.
Messi’s second – a delicate chip over Manuel Neuer – came at the expense of Jerome Boateng, who slipped as he tried to thwart the forward, and Henry was left bewitched by the 27-year-old’s performance.
Thiery Henry
"Once again, how many times we going to say that Lionel Messi just happened? That's just what happened tonight,” he told Sky Sports.
"I think, as we talked about, Bayern didn't approach the game the right way at the beginning, but in the second half there wasn't a lot between the two teams. But then Lionel Messi decided to win that game.
"Although you have to give a lot of credit to Dani Alves on that first goal because he got that ball back.
"But Lionel Messi is just superb. How many times are we going to find ourselves being in that situation and talking about him? He wanted to win that game and he did it again."
Messi has now scored 77 goals in the Champions League, and team-mate Javier Mascherano also praised the superstar – whom he claims is indescribable.
"He's a player that is impossible to describe. You have to watch him. We're happy. We need to think about the next game though,” he added.