Barcelona, and in particular, Lionsel Messi, destroyed Arsenal’s hopes of entering the Champions League Semifinals. Messi scored four goals for Barcelona, and the team ended up with an aggregate score of 6-3.

Messi gave an impressive performance against Arsenal, and his plaudits as the best player in the world only grow. His skills were showcased on Tuesday night as he, seemingly single-handedly, gave Barcelona a position in the semifinals.

Arsenal emerged with a very different squad, as some of its best players were injured: captain Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin and Alex Song were the big absences of the night.

But despite those absences, Arsenal began the game on a positive note, scoring the first goal of the night at minute 18. Walcott sent a pass to Niklas Bendtner, who was in Barcelona’s penalty area. Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes tried to stop him, but the Arsenal striker was too fast, sending a shot directly into the net.

Things went downhill for Arsenal after that; shortly after its first goal, Arsenal wasted a clear opportunity, a huge mistake for the English team. Barcelona then gained its foothold in minute 21, when it scored its first goal.

Silvestre was not able to clear a shot in the Arsenal penalty area, an opportunity that Messi didn’t waste, sending a great shot into the top right corner of the net. After he scored his first goal, Messi was ready to give nothing but a hard time to the English team. The Argentine looked unbeatable, taking the ball and creating openings and opportunities where he could.

Barcelona’s second goal came at minute 37. Messi collected the ball in the right touchline and then launched a shot directly to Arsenal’s net. The Argentine kept punishing the English team, and just four minutes after the second goal, he took a pass in a play from Abidal to race against the Arsenal goalkeeper, scoring his third goal of the night.

Arsenal sought but had few more chances, out of focus as Messi played with its defense, which gave a poor performance. The English team was unable to complete any of its plays.

Messi took a last chance at minute 88 with a clever goal, sending his team directly into the Champions League semifinals.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger acknowledged that, with Lionel Messi, Barcelona was unbeatable.

“For me, he is the best player in the world, and by a distance. When he's in the game, he's really dangerous. Once he's on the run with the ball, he's really dangerous,'' Wenger said. "I believe that we lost against a team that is better than us and have the best player in the world. Congratulations to Barcelona - they were better than us.''

For Barcelona, coach Pep Guardiola said it was a great night for the team and for the fans showing their support at Camp Nou.

He said he was proud of Messi, stating that he admires the Argentine’s love for football and for the team.

Barcelona will have to face Inter Milan in the semifinals, where Inter Milan president has said that the team will seek revenge.

About the Author

Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer for the UEFA Soccer Games games as well as thesports betting industry updates for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.