Messi Magnificent, Iniesta Imperious in Barcelona's 4-0 Win over Milan

Maybe it was because of his showing in the first leg, or lack thereof, that Lionel Messi came into Tuesday’s return match against AC Milan under all sorts of pressure. He had struggled to make an impact when his Barcelona side lost 2-0 at the San Siro, and in the back-to-back losses to Real Madrid that followed there were whispers that he had played too much football this season and that he had run out of gas. He looked a shadow of his former self.

At the end of what looks to once again be a memorable campaign in the Catalan capital, few will remember those murmurs of concern. But they will look back to the 4-0 win over AC Milan on March 12—the result most thought was impossible, the night when Lionel Messi stepped out of his shadow.

It took just five minutes for him to silence the doubters.

Even with three white shirts in front of him and another three closing in from behind, the Argentine maestro seemed to dance in the little patch of space just in front of the 18-yard box before shifting the ball from his right foot to his left and smashing a powerful, rising shot beyond the clutches of Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.

From there, Messi was his old self, and he tied it up on aggregate with just five minutes to go in the opening half. His second of the night couldn’t have come at a worse time for Milan, who had quite nearly equalized through M’Baye Niang only seconds before—the 18-year-old Rossoneri forward hitting the far post when he should have finished just inside it.

Enter Iniesta.

The 28-year-old playmaker, who was named UEFA’s Best Player in Europe last September, already had a hand in Messi’s first goal before playing a crucial part in the second, and his deeper position allowed for the tight, moving triangles that he, Xavi, and Messi worked with throughout the 90 minutes.

But his involvement in Messi’s second was especially important, as he single-handedly disposed Massimo Ambrosini before turning the play in the opposite direction and finding Messi, who this time drove his effort just inside the near post. It was exquisite stuff.

Iniesta also created Barcelona’s all-important third goal—the tally that put them ahead on aggregate and gave them a foot in the door to the quarterfinals.

David Villa’s inclusion at the expense of Cesc Fabregas had allowed Iniesta to operate in that withdrawn, playmaking role in which he is so effective. In the first leg, with Fabregas alongside Xavi and Sergio Busquets in the centre of the park, Iniesta had been deployed more as a left-sided attacker, and Barcelona’s passing game lacked its usual fluency as a result.

Not so on this night.

With Iniesta and Xavi working so well, Milan scarcely had a sniff of the ball over the first 70 minutes, and it was fitting that the goal they combined to create in the 55th minute ended up being finished off by Villa, who had otherwise been rather quiet during the match. Iniesta began the movement with a clever lay-off to Xavi with the outside of his left foot, and Xavi swung the ball to his right for Villa, who showed a pure goalscorer’s instinct in beating Abbiati.

The assumption that Barcelona wouldn’t be involved in Friday’s draw may have raised the hopes of many of the teams remaining in the competition, but after Tuesday’s performance that optimism will have turned into dread.

What we are seeing in this Barcelona team—and as we have seen for the past few years—is that rare side that brings together three world-class players for the prime years of their careers. It is once-in-a-lifetime stuff, and it was on full display against AC Milan on Tuesday.