LONDON — Barcelona’s Lionel Messi broke free from Arsenal’s shackles to score two late goals and put the Champions League holder on the brink of the quarterfinals with a clinical 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium here Tuesday.
The irrepressible Argentine, along with strike partners Luis Suarez and Neymar, had been subdued for most of the last 16, first-leg tie but came alive late on, clinically finishing off a lightning counter-attack and then dispatching a penalty.
In Turin, Juventus staged a superb revival to battle back from two goals down and rescue its Champions League hopes with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in their last 16 first leg.
"They are 95 percent through to the quarterfinals certainly," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whose side had defended solidly for 71 minutes until crumbling, told reporters. "It’s a shame we didn’t get any satisfaction because we put everything into it."
Luis Enrique’s Barca side extended its unbeaten run to 33 matches and, barring something extraordinary in the return at the Nou Camp next month, will take its place in the last eight for the ninth season in a row. "I liked everything we did tonight," the Spaniard told reporters.
Messi has proved a thorn in Arsenal’s side on each of the last two occasions the teams have met in the Champions League.
In 2010 he scored four times in the last 16 second leg to send Barca through and a year later he struck twice in a 3-1 win in Spain after Arsenal had edged the first leg. Messi, Suarez and Neymar had scored 91 goals in all competitions this season heading into Tuesday’s game but none of the feared trident managed an effort on target in the first half as Arsenal’s fans cranked up the decibel levels.
Arsenal was patient and should have gone ahead midway through the first half when Hector Bellerin’s scuffed shot fell for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but he scooped his effort straight into the arms of keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Thomas Mueller pounced on a deflected cross to put Bayern ahead in the 43rd minute and Dutchman Arjen Robben doubled the lead early in the second half against Juventus.
The Italians looked dead and buried after an hour with the Germans having close to 70 percent possession and Juve desperately waiting for a rare chance to break. Yet last season’s finalist, which has been in superb form in recent months, staged a scintillating comeback.
Paulo Dybala scored in the 63rd minute and substitute Stefano Sturaro leveled with 14 minutes remaining to leave all to play for in the second leg after a frustrating finish for the Germans.
"We can live with this result and return home having a good starting position for the second leg," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm told reporters. "Juventus are a good team but it was our own mistakes that got them back in the game. We played great for an hour."
"We knew it would have been tough, but I think we did well tonight," Dybala said.
"We gave everything we had, and we never gave up. It is going to be very difficult in Munich, but we know that we can make it with our heart, especially if we play like we did in the second half tonight."
