Messi crushes Arsenal with master-class in finishing

Barcelona eased into the semi-finals of the Champions League with a comprehensive 4-1 drubbing of Arsenal at the Nou Camp, all four goals courtesy of Lionel Messi.

Incredibly, Arsenal actual took the lead after 19 minutes when Theo Walcott’s pace set up Niklas Bendtner for the opener.

But this was as good as it got for the Gunners as Messi then took centre stage and Arsenal had no answer to his stunning solo display which saw the Argentinean collect a 21 minute first half hat-trick.

Within a couple of minutes Messi levelled after some sloppy visitor’s defending.

Pedro teed the Argentine up for his second on 37 minutes and a cool lob completed his first-half hat-trick just before the break.

The second half was damage limitation for Arsene Wenger’s team but Messi still managed to add a fourth with a couple of minutes remaining to finish the tie 6-3 on aggregate to the defending champions and a semi-final meeting with Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan.