Lionel Messi scored his first goal against Chelsea to help Barcelona earn a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Messi had not found the net in eight previous matches against the Blues, but he punished Andreas Christensen’s misdirected pass across his own box in the 75th minute to grab an away goal for the Spanish giants.
Willian had put Chelsea ahead in the 62nd minute with a brilliant curling strike, having hit both posts in the first half.
But the Premier League side has to score in the return leg at Camp Nou on 14 March if they are to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Chelsea, who started with Eden Hazard as a false nine and had Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud on the bench, had looked as though they were going to take a first-leg advantage after blunting Barcelona’s attacking threat.
While the visitors dominated possession in the first half, it was Chelsea who went closer to scoring.
Hazard flashed an early shot over the bar while Willian hit the post twice with efforts from outside the box, striking the right-hand upright in the 34th minute and then hitting the left post with a snap-shot in the 41st minute.
Hazard also volleyed over the bar before half-time, with Barca’s only chance falling to Paulinho in the 16th minute when he headed wide.
The game continued in the same pattern in the second half but it was Chelsea who broke the deadlock when Willian finished brilliantly, curling a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
The goal looked as though it might be decisive on the night as Barcelona struggled to find a way through Chelsea’s well-organised defence.
But Barca seized upon Christensen’s poor pass across his own box, with Andres Iniesta skipping away from Cesar Azpilicueta’s diving tackle and then pulling back for Messi to finish expertly into the bottom corner.
In other Champions League results:
Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski both scored twice as Bayern Munich cruised to a comfortable 5-0 victory over 10-man Besiktas at the Allianz-Arena.
-This story originally appeared on FourFourTwo.co.za
