Sports Thread #1 For 4/6/10: The Lion(El) King

Only five letters can describe this night: M......E..........S............S...................I

Only those five, as "The Lionel Messi Club", I mean, Barcelona, handled a game but overmatched Arsenal side 4-1 on the night and 6-3 on aggregate to advance to the semifinals against Inter Milan. And it was due to the world's best player probably adding the most glorious performance to an already growing legacy of a legend.

At the beginning though, Arsenal had made everyone nervous at the Nou Camp from the outset, as Nicholas Bendtner put Arsenal up across all score boards with his 18 minute rebound tap. Whistles called for offsides on Theo Walcott who set up Bendtner, but the fans were left to wonder if this would be the night where the magic of Pep Guardiola and Messi would finally not work tonight.

3 minutes latter, they need not worry any longer.

Thanks to poor defending by Arsenal, a defelected shot feel to Messi, as the Argentine wunderkid scorched a left shot passed Manuel Alumunia for an emphatic equalizer. From that point on, it was full one way traffic, as Messi showed why he is second (and maybe third) to none on the planet, with goals in the 37th, 42nd, and 88 minute to place the Catalan giants back into another Champions League Final Four.

And leave Arsene Wenger, along with his players and everyone else watching around the rest of the world in full awe of a young master at the height of his powers at just the age of 22.