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Lionel Messi: Barcelona star reveals two moments of LUCK were key to beating Man Utd
LIONEL MESSI believes two moments of ‘luck’ were key to Barcelona beating Manchester United in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Lionel Messi praised after performance against United
Lionel Messi was on song as Barcelona put Manchester United to the sword in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday night.
The Argentina international opened the scoring in the 16th minute, curling his shot well beyond the reach of David De Gea.
De Gea then gifted Messi a second Barcelona goal four minutes later, allowing the 31-year-old’s tame effort to squirm under his body.
Philippe Coutinho then added gloss to a fine Barcelona performance late on.
But Messi believes two moments of luck were key to the Catalan giants’ straightforward win.
“I was lucky [on the first goal]," he admitted after the final whistle had blown.
”The second I had even more luck.
"But the important thing is that we achieved our goal of reaching the quarter-finals, which we hadn't for a long time."
Messi was also impressed by Barcelona’s display.
At Old Trafford a week ago, the La Liga giants struggled and only won courtesy of a Luis Suarez goal.
It was a different story entirely at the Nou Camp, however, with Ernesto Valverde’s team dominant throughout.
And Messi added: “It was spectacular.
"This is who we are. We were cold and nervous for the first five minutes.
"I don't know why, but then we took control."
Barcelona could yet win a treble for a third time in a decade.
They sit top of the La Liga table - nine points clear of Atletico Madrid in second - and have also reached the Copa del Rey final.
But Messi is not looking too far ahead.
"Let's take it step by step, little by litte," he said."Now we have LaLiga Santander and we can't relax, before dealing with the semi-finals with the respect it deserves."