Barcelona Victory With Messi 100th Goal
Barcelona maintained their victory start in Champion League Group D with a 3-1 victory over Olympiakos, and at the same time Lionel Messi scored his 100th European goal at the Camp Nou on Thursday October 19th 2017. Messi hit the century mark in 122 European matches when he curled a free kick over the wall in the 61st minute as his 100th goal. Barcelona took the lead in the 18th minute when Dimitrios Nikolaou turned Gerard Deulofeu's cross into his own net.
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| Lionel Messi as Barcelona in Champion League |
Instead of getting an additional goal, things were made difficult when Gerard Pique was expelled by Scottish referee William Collum. Gerard Pique got a second booking in 42nd minute for using his arm to steer the ball into the net and the strike was disallowed. Coach Ernesto Valverde drew Gerard Deulofeu and included Javier Mascherano. Therefore, Barcelona continued to outclass Olympiakos despite playing with 10 men. Not for long, Messi made it to his milestone with a lovely free kick in the 61st minute. It was his 100th goal in European competition. Actually, it was his 97th goal in the Champions League, while his other three strikes in Europe came in the UEFA Super Cup.
Barcelona's star Messi provided the pass for left back Lucas Digne to score his first victory goal in the Champions League in the 64th minute. Dimitrios Nikolaou who did suicide goal scored with a header from a corner in 90th minute. Barcelona made it three wins from as many matches in Group D and extended their unbeaten runs at home in the competition to 23 straight games. Meanwhile, Olympiakos remained on zero points. It makes Barcelona at top with nine points from three matches. Juventus who won 2-1 on the other match in Group D was at second rank.