He had a magical night: Messi hails Ronaldo’s Champions League hat-trick

Lionel Messi saluted Cristiano Ronaldos efforts from the previous night after producing a superb display of his own in Barcelonas thrashing of Lyon on Wednesday.Messi scored two goals and set up two more at the Nou Camp as Barca triumphed 5-1 against the French side in their Champions League last-16 second leg, three weeks on from leg one ending goalless.On Tuesday, his old rival Ronaldos hat-trick secured Juventus a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid for a 3-2 victory on aggregate. Messi was quoted by Marca as saying after the Lyon game: What Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus did was impressive.I thought Atletico Madrid would be tougher. Ronaldo had a magical night with three goals.Regarding Fridays draw for the quarter and semi-finals, Messi added: All of the opponents are complicated.Ajax (who beat Real Madrid in the last 16), for example, showed that theyre an amazing team of youngsters and they dont fear anyone.Itll be difficult no matter who we face. We have to prepare ourselves for a tough challenge.QUARTERFINAL POLL: Who do you want to face in the next round?https://t.co/0UlA3NsdEApic.twitter.com/bGAhdwyW30 FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 13, 2019Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde was quoted as saying in his post-match press conference: Were all very focused on this competition and Messi is too. He played an incredible match.Valverde also echoed Messis sentiments with regard to the draw.Its impossible to look at just one team, he said. Weve all done well to get through. Well see who we will play, but any opponent will be complicated.Messi opened the scoring with a 17th-minute Panenka-style penalty, and Philippe Coutinho then made it 2-0 just after the half-hour mark.Lucas Tousart pulled a goal back for Lyon in the 58th minute, before Messi added his second in the 78th and then teed up Gerard Pique and substitute Ousmane Dembele.Your 2018/19 #UCL quarter-finalists @AFCAjax @FCBarcelona @juventusfc @LFC @ManCity @ManUtd @FCPorto @SpursOfficial Who are you backing to lift the ? pic.twitter.com/dLLjJCEGq8 UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 13, 2019Luis Suarez won the penalty when he went down in the area when challenged by Jason Denayer. Referee Szymon Marciniak pointed to the spot and Messi then coolly converted after the incident was checked by VAR.Marca reported that Suarez said in an interview with Movistar Plus: I think I accidentally stepped on him (Denayer) and I think that unbalanced me a little. The referee can decide to give it or not.Meanwhile, Lyon boss Bruno Genesio described Messi as a genius.Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo scored three times against Atletico Madrid (Martin Rickett/PA)Genesio said in quotes on his clubs official website: I saw a first period where we suffered a lot. Barca put enormous pressure on us, which we did not know how to answer.In the second half, we had a better time. We were able to recover the ball higher, posed problems and reduced the score.Unfortunately, Barca scored their third goal at that moment. It hurt us a lot and it boosted Barcas spirits.When Messi is at such a level, he is almost unstoppable. He is one of the best players of all time, a genius.Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes was hurt in a collision with Coutinho while the score was 1-0 and received lengthy treatment before continuing, only to then be substituted for Mathieu Gorgelin shortly after the Brazilian made it 2-0.Genesio said: Antho (Lopes) had lost consciousness at the time but did not want to go out. Finally, the doctor asked me to take him out so as not to take any chances.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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