Three things we learned: Barcelona 3-0 Chelsea

Barcelona progressed to the quarter-final stage of the Champions League after they beat Chelsea by a 4-1 aggregate scoreline.
The Catalan giants backed their 1-1 stalemate at Stamford Bridge with a 3-0 triumph at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night, and this ensured their place in the last eight of the elite competition.
Three Things We Learned:
Lionel Messi proves his mettle: Prior to the double-legged tie, there had been lot of talk about Lionel Messi’s eight-match goalless streak against Chelsea. The Argentine put this unwanted record to bed during the first-leg, where he equalised from a defensive lapse from the Blues. He continued in the same vein of form at the Camp Nou, where he was the star of the show with a goal in either half, in addition to his assist for Ousmane Dembele’s strike (whoscored).
Chelsea lacked the cutting edge: Chelsea’s brand of attacking football on Wednesday night had some similarities with Sevilla, who were wasteful in front of goal, barring Ben Yedder, whose brace ensured a shock triumph over Manchester United in the competition. Unfortunately, the Blues did not have a saviour in the form of Ben Yedder in their ranks, and Olivier Giroud had a Champions League night to forget as he failed to find the scoresheet. Giroud did manage one layoff for Marcos Alonso, but the attempt was blocked by some last-ditch defending from Gerard Pique.
A defeat with plenty of positives: Despite going down to Barcelona, the Blues’ faithful at the Camp Nou were pleased with the overall efforts of the team. Antonio Conte’s side were slammed for opting for an ultra-defensive approach against Manchester City earlier in the month, but they have no reason to regret their performance in Catalonia where they managed to keep Barcelona in their own half for the vast part of the second period. In-form winger Willian was the driving force once more, but could not find the final delivery to pick-up either Hazard or Giroud.

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