What journalists have noticed about Lionel Messi before first goal vs Chelsea

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By Glen Durrant

Published Mar 15, 2018

Messi was out of this world on Wednesday night

We've run out of words to describe Lionel Messi following his performance against Chelsea in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday night.Having scored in the reverse leg at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago, the Argentine was in magical form as he scored two goals and assisted another in the 3-0 second leg victory.Chelsea were powerless - to some extent - as Messi ran riot at the Camp Nou, beating Thibaut Courtois twice with strikes that both went through the Belgian's legs.Antonio Conte waxed lyrical about the Barcelona star in his post-match press conference and became the latest to hail him as the world's best."When you have the opportunity to make a great compliment to Messi, it is right," said the Italian. "It is right to recognise a super super super top player."He is able to score 60 goals every season. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to give him my compliment. We are talking about an extraordinary player - the best in the world."We must have great respect for this player. We are talking about a fantastic player. He is writing a great story for Barcelona with his teammates."Both of Messi's finishes were clinical and now a few journalists have noticed something pretty special about the 30-year-old's opener in the third minute.In the video below, you can see that Messi only looks up once before shooting and it's to look for teammates inside the box, as if he's about to cross.But he doesn't, instead readjusting his body to shoot underneath Courtois, who was clearly fooled into thinking a cross was coming. Check it out at 0:31.

MESSI TRICKS COURTOIS

JOURNALISTS RECOGNISE THE 'GENIUS'

Messi knew exactly what he was doing and even Courtois admitted after the game that he didn't think the Argentina international would shoot from such a tight angle.

"I didn't expect Messi to shoot from there and I was too late to close my legs so that was a mistake on my part," said the Belgian shot-stopper. "It's not nice to start an evening like that.