Messi on form as Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid

By Guest writer Thomas Rooney

Lionel Messi showed his class for Barcelona once more as he scored a hat-trick to help his team to a 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in their Copa del Rey match at the Vicente Calderon.

The result puts Barcelona firmly in command of their last-16 tie as Atletico Madrid would now need a sensational performance in the second leg at the Nou Camp to prevent the Spanish giants progressing to the quarter-finals.

So, let’s go through Messi’s goals. First up was a low shot past Gregory Coupet after brilliant work between the Argentinean and Dani Alves with just 11 minutes gone in the match. I imagine that the Atletico fans feared the worst at this stage!

Barcelona had to wait until the 56th minute to double their lead though, which they did from the penalty spot. John Heitinga saw red for bringing down Messi in the penalty area, but the youngster picked himself up to slot home his second of the game.

Atletico then surprisingly pulled a goal back, but the football odds never expected them to get back on level terms. This notion was confirmed when Messi sealed his hat-trick in the 79th minute.

After being unlucky to see his shot come bouncing off the cross bar at the end of a mazy run, Messi managed to fire the ball into the net later in the same attack to cap a fine individual performance.

The Argentina international was so fantastic, that the Atletico fans were standing for him and singing his name after his shot that hit the bar and then again after his third goal. They appreciated what a fantastic player he was and how amazing his performance had been on the night.

Not often does that happen in football nowadays and I suppose it can only be a credit to the talent of the player. Many now believe that he is the best there is right now and based on this performance, who is going to argue?

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting