Barcelona breezed past Liverpool at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night. 

Luis Suarez scored the first of three goals, finishing brilliantly on the stretch to poke in what was also his first of this season's European campaign. 

But it's Lionel Messi who stole the headlines once again as he completely changed the game with 15 minutes to go. 

Until then, Liverpool were very much in the tie and they were chasing an important away goal. But Barca's number 10 came to life at the perfect moment to seemingly put the game to bed. 

He scored twice in seven minutes - although his first was more luck than judgment. Suarez's effort bounced back off the crossbar and fell at his feet, with Messi able to walk the ball into the net.

His second goal though was almost unbelievable. From 35 yards, the Argentine curled an inch-perfect free-kick into the top corner of Alisson's net. 

At 3-0, the tie could well be over before a ball is even kicked at Anfield and that's mostly down to Messi's late masterclass. 

And following his performance, Madrid-based publication Marca have declared that the Barca captain deserves to be handed the Ballon d'Or today. 

"Messi should be awarded the Ballon d'Or" is the headline of their player ratings piece from the Camp Nou, which credits the Blaugrana's win to "two moments of brilliance from the Argentine".

"Messi appeared when the Camp Nou needed him most, forcing the ball over the line for his first and his side's second before scoring a beautiful free-kick to make it 3-0," the article reads.

"The Barcelona captain worked tremendously hard and even went out of his way to ensure that Philippe Coutinho was not whistled after being taken off by Ernesto Valverde.

"Messi, as has often been the case down the years, was the most decisive player on the pitch."

That is certainly exceptionally high praise for Messi, especially coming from a publication based in Madrid. 

On Wednesday night, the little magician proved once again that it's a farce he's currently the fifth best player in the world based on last year's Ballon d'Or votes. 

It's hard to argue with Marca's suggestion that he should be given back the golden ball today.