After all he has achieved, at the end of one of his great European displays, Lionel Messi could say little to sum up his role in Barcelona's 3-0 win over Manchester United."I was lucky [on the first goal]," he admitted, via Marca."The second I had even more luck."Ashley Young and David de Gea had indeed played a part in the Red Devils' demise, but it ought to console the United duo that there are few sides in the world who can rattle Barca when their talisman is at his majestic best.First, the Argentine capitalised on Young's hesitation and waltzed past Fred to slide the ball into the bottom corner. 

The culprit for his second was more surprising, De Gea's slippery hands all but confirming it would be the Blaugrana who progressed to the semi-finals. 

Luck? So as De Gea is usually in the right place at the right time for the three-time European champions, Messi knew exactly which areas of the pitch to exploit and a somewhat shaky United defence were at his mercy. 

All this, and more, has been said before. These were the 31-year-old's 44th and 45th goals of the season and brought him to 597 overall. 

Yet Messi continues to dazzle even those who have seen him do it time and time again. 

That includes Alfredo Martinez, a commentator for Onda Cero Radio, whose reaction to the first goal has already been shared thousands of times: 

"Golazo, golazo, golazo! Messi! Leo, Leo, Leo! Messi! Barcelona 1-0 Manchester United!"

Our thoughts exactly. 

It looks unlikely that Messi, who has scored 10 times in the competition in 2018/19, will be surpassed in the goalscoring charts in Europe this season.

Either Ajax's Dusan Tadic or Porto's Moussa Marega would have to pull off something spectacular for that to happen. 

He now goes in search of his fifth Champions League title, a feat that would see him equal Cristiano Ronaldo, whose Juventus side were knocked out by Ajax.

When Messi is still producing moments like that so often and so effortlessly, who would want to bet against Barcelona reaching their first final since 2015?