UCL 2016: Messi hat-trick sink City; Ozil fires in three in 6-0 rout over Ludogorets

Lionel-Messi
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick against Manchester City in a Champions League clash at Camp Nou on Wednesday night. Image Source: twitter

Internet City: It was a night of goals galore as both Lionel Messi and Mesut Ozil scored hat-tricks in their team’s respective Champions League clashes on Wednesday night as Barcelona and Arsenal inflicted heavy defeats on their opponents Manchester City and Ludogorets.

Lionel Messi, coming back from an injury scored a hat-trick against Manchester City at Camp Nou. The Argentine super star set a new Champions League record by scoring 50 home goals, more than anyone in the competitions history. The previous record was held by former Real Madrid striker Raul with 49 goals.

Barca took the lead in the 17th minute as Messi sped through City’s defence after getting a pass from Andres Iniesta to shot past City keeper Claudio Bravo.

The former Barcelona keeper like his coach Guardiola would like to forget their return to Camp Nou. Bravo was sent off in the 53rd minute for using his hands to block a shot outside the area after his poor pass gifted the ball to Luis Suarez.

Messi was again on the score sheet as he struck again in the 61st and 69th minute to take his tally to 89 goals in Champions League.The Barcelona star is second only to Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 98 goals.

Barcelona was reduced to 10 men after substitute Jeremy Mathieu was shown a second yellow card in the 73rd minute of the match. Barcelona could have extended the lead as Neymar missed a penalty. But the Brazilian footballer more than made up for the penalty miss by scoring the final goal for his team’s win. After winning its first 10 matches under Guardiola, City has now gone winless in four games in all competitions.

Barcelona now has tightened their stand in Group C with 5 points clear of City. The Spanish giants now lead the table with 9 points from 3 matches.

City will have an opportunity to avenge their heavy defeat when the two teams meet again in Manchester on November 01.

Premier League leaders Arsenal ran riot at home to inflict a 6-0 defeat on Ludogorets . Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring for the Gunners in the 12th minute as he beat a defender before deftly chipping the ball over the goalkeeper and into the far corner. England striker Theo Walcott made it 2-0 shortly before half-time when he curled home a sumptuous effort from outside the area.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain extended the lead immediately after the breather when he netted his third goal of the season.

Ozil netted the first of his three goals in the 56th minute. The German footballer latched on to a long pass from Cazorla and moved forward to shot past the opponent goalkeeper.

He was again on the score sheet in the 83rd minute when he finished a perfect cross from Perez from the left. Minutes later Ozil completed his first hat-trick in Champions League as he combined again with Perez to shot home with a volley.

In another match Atletico earned their third successive 1-0 win in the competition when Yannick Carrasco converted Juanfran’s cross at the back post. The win ensures Los Rojiblancos stay three points ahead of Bayern, who thrashed PSV.

Thomas Muller fired home a rebound from close range, and Joshua Kimmich soon doubled the Bavarians’ lead when he nodded home David Alaba’s cross. Luciano Narsingh hit back for PSV with a powerful strike on the break, but Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben netted in the second half to kill off the contest.

Here are the results from Wednesday’s fixtures in Champions League:

UCL-Results