London: Barcelona star striker Lionel Messi insisted that they still have work to do to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals despite their 2-0 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium here on Tuesday. The Argentine scored twice in the second half to put the Catalans in control of the tie ahead of the second leg at Camp Nou, opening the scoring after latching onto Neymar’s pass before sending the second past Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech from the penalty spot.
Speaking after the game, Messi credited his side for a great result but insisted there was still a long way to go in the last 16 clash. “The tie isn’t over. We know what sort of things Arsenal are capable of and nothing is decided despite the fact we achieved a great result with two goals as visitors,” Messi was quoted as saying by TV3 on Tuesday.
Messi’s two goals also broke an eight-game drought against Cech, a fact which pleased the Argentina captain. “Luckily it happened today. But above all the fact we played a great game and got a big result, against a very good team, is the most important thing. Arsenal marked very hard because they are very strong players. But we knew in the second half they would slow down, it is difficult to keep up such a high rhythm,” the 28-year-old said.
“And that is how it went. We had more space, which is how we prefer to play. We broke away several times, the first goal arrived and then the game opened up,” Messi said.