Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde hailed Lionel Messi after the Argentine set the wheels in motion for a comprehensive 3-0 win over Manchester United at Camp Nou in the teams’ Champions League quarter-final second leg tonight.
After a shaky opening few minutes in which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side hit the bar through Marcus Rashford, Messi opened the scoring with a stunning strike and added another shortly afterwards to kill off the visitors’ hopes.
“Leo always appears in the important games,” Valverde said afterwards. “Not just in the big moments, but also in the overall play because he scores goals but also carries the weight of the team’s attacking play.
“When he plays like that, he is unstoppable.”
It was put to Valverde that the Argentine had saved Barca again following a nervy opening and he said: “He always gets us out of problems, that’s clear.
“It was a great piece of play and a great goal, but we were already on our way. We’re not going to apologise for having Messi. He’s a blessing for us.”
Valverde was also asked about Coutinho and his celebration, when he covered his ears as if to send a message to the fans who had whistled him recently.
“I don’t know what that meant,” he said. “He has the answer. I’ll stick with the great goal he scored.
"People like to talk about details, but the important thing is that he was at a great level.”
Barca will now face Liverpool or Porto in the semi-finals and Valverde said: “Liverpool are favourites, but we’ll see tomorrow.
“We’re confident ahead of the next tie, although there are still 10 or 15 days to go. We would like to get to the final.”
