Messi tops 200 career goals in win

Group F leader Arsenal draws at home against Marseille


Lionel Messi broke the 200-goal barrier for his Barcelona career with his second straight hat trick in a 4-0 win at Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday night that advanced the club to the Champions League knockout stage.

AC Milan also advanced with a 1-1 tie at BATE Borisov, but Arsenal and Chelsea were held to draws and will have to wait until their final two games to earn a spot in the second round. Jonas scored the second-fastest goal in Champions League history, 10 seconds into Valencia’s 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Messi converted a penalty kick in the 24th minute, scored off a one-two with Adriano in first-half injury time and got his third from Gerard Pique’s backheel pass in second-half injury time. Messi has 202 goals in his Barcelona career, including 22 in 17 games this season.

“I’m happy, but not just for the result but for how we played,” Messi said.

Messi got his 14th career hat trick and second in the Champions League. His 42 Champions League goals already are ninth on the career list.

“A phenomenal player,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “At 24, he has broken so many records.”

Cesc Fabregas got a goal on a header in the 72nd minute from Isaac Cuenca’s cross. Barcelona has outscored opponents 26-0 in its last nine games.

Defending champion Barcelona (3-0-1) leads Group H, and AC Milan (2-0-2) also assured advancement. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in the 22nd minute for the Rossoneri, but Renan Bressan’s penalty kick after a foul by Ignazio Abate tied it in the 55th.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri and his team had wanted to win for teammate Antonio Cassano, who has been in a hospital after falling ill on the flight back to Milan following its 3-2 win at Roma on Saturday. Visiting fans had banners showing their support for the stricken forward, and Kevin-Prince Boateng celebrated Ibrahimovic’s goal with a shirt of Cassano’s.

“We made a lot of mistakes, and when you do that then it can happen that you concede a goal or penalty,” Allegri said. “It’s normal that you have to be more clinical in finishing a game off, but we didn’t do that.”

Group F leader Arsenal (2-0-2) missed out on advancement with a 0-0 draw at home against Marseille (2-1-1). Borussia Dortmund (1-2-1) won 1-0 over visiting Olympiakos (1-3) on Kevin Grosskreutz’s goal from 20 yards in the seventh minute.

Chelsea (2-0-2) extended its Group E lead to two points despite being held to a 1-1 tie at Genk (0-2-2) as second-place Bayer Leverkusen (2-2) lost 3-1 at Valencia (1-1-2).

“It gets a little bit tighter,” Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Ramires scored for the Blues in the 26th minute after being set up by Fernando Torres, but Jelle Vossen tied it in the 61st minute.

At Valencia, Levekusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno tried to clear a back pass but delivered the ball for Jonas to sidefoot in a left-footed shot from outside the area. After Stefan Kiessling tied it in the 31st, the hosts got goals from Roberto Soldado in the 65th and Adil Rami in the 74th

APOEL (2-0-2) retained its surprise lead of Group G with a 2-1 victory over visiting Porto (1-2-1), staying a point ahead of Zenit St. Petersburg (2-1-1), which won 1-0 at home over Shakhtar Donetsk (0-2-2). 

(AP)