Magical Messi will never leave Barcelona, says beaten Antonio Conte after Chelsea are outclassed at the Nou Camp
Argentine scores twice and sets up a goal for Ousmane Dembele as Barca beat Chelsea 3-0 completing a 4-1 aggregate triumph
Messi, 30, scored twice and set up a goal for Ousmane Dembele as Barca beat Chelsea 3-0 at the Camp Nou on Wednesday for a 4-1 aggregate triumph.
“I think Leo wants to stay until the end of his career with Barcelona,” Conte said.
“We’re talking about an impossible situation. I repeat: we must have great respect for this player. We are talking about a fantastic player.
“I think he wants to stay in Barcelona for the end of his career. I think it’s the right way for him. He’s writing with his teammates a great story with Barcelona.”
Alonso also thought he should have been awarded a penalty in the second half after he went down under the challenge of Gerard Pique.
Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud believes his team deserved more.
“Obviously on both matches I regret the posts or bars that we could have. You have to have some success, a little luck,” Giroud said.
Messi, however, once again proved the difference, applying two clinical finishes through Thibaut Courtois’s legs and, in between, teeing up Dembele to score his first Barcelona goal.
“He knows in certain moments stars have to come out. He forces himself to do that,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said.
“There’s no guarantee that he’s going to score, but he is a fantastic player. We enjoy him. We’re lucky enough to be seeing something that will go down in history.”
Chelsea have invited any fans who experienced problems to contact the club.
A Chelsea spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of incidents outside the ground before the game where a number of Chelsea fans were hurt.
“We ask that our supporters contact us with accounts of their experiences of this evening’s arrival at the stadium so that we can take this up properly with the authorities.”