Lionel Messi and the year 2010 (Part 2)
17th March: When the Catalan Giants perform during the UEFA Champions League, their away form is not the best out there like other teams; however, they
still manage to remain undefeated by drawing games. With Barcelona visiting the German side Stuttgart, it was expected that the Blaugrana Giants were going to destroy the German underdogs, but things did not really go well for the Spanish Champions. After
scoring only a single goal being away from home, Josep Guardiola’s side only managed to take a point from the German team. When the Germans came to the Nou Camp on the return leg on 17 March 2010, it was totally a Lionel Messi showdown once again. The Argentinean
striker scored a brace against the German side and destroyed their UEFA Champions League dreams. Not only did he find two goals during the game, in fact, he was also the one to assist the last goal of the game scored by Bojan Krkic. The Spaniards were totally
on fire as they won the game and took three points at Nou Camp – the fortress of the Catalans.
21st March: Barcelona were involved in a crucial game against Real Zaragoza. Despite the fact that Zaragoza were not very much in form during the season,
they still looked to be a very tough side when playing on their home ground, the Romareda. With Guardiola taking his team to Zaragoza’s home ground, he equipped himself with a weapon like Lionel Messi who knew no boundaries about scoring goals. The Argentinean
managed to pull off yet another fabulous show as he showed the world that he is a consistent goal scorer. The La Masia product went forward and scored another brilliant hat trick for the Spanish Champions as they won the game 2-4 while being away from home.
The first goal came with the help of Andres Iniesta and the second one came with the help of the former Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The third goal was simply a master class as it is still recorded to be Messi’s “one of the best” goals ever. The Argentinean
won the ball right at the heart of the pitch and ran past four Zaragoza defenders to score a phenomenal goal. The Argentinean certainly did show top form during the end of the last season 2009-2010.
6th April: Barcelona were to face the English Premier League side Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League. The North London club had a big score to settle
with the Catalan Giants as they were the ones who won the final of the UEFA Champions League back in 2006 when Ronaldinho was at his best in a Blaugrana jersey. Now, with Arsene Wenger going one-on-one with Josep Guardiola, the Spanish coach had to make sure
that he did everything right. Guardiola only managed to get a 2-2 draw at the Emirates stadium, but with the North London club visiting the Nou Camp, the Spanish Champions made sure that they get the deserved win. The Argentinean maestro Lionel Messi totally
stole the show and the spotlight that night. He was like a one-man-army during the game and with Nicklas Bendtner scoring the first goal for Arsenal; it was Lionel Messi who scored 4 goals to give his best performance of the year 2010. The Argentinean destroyed
Arsenal’s dreams as the Catalan Giants won the game 4-1 at home and knocked Arsenal out.
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