Messi is impossible to describe, says Mascherano
Javier Mascherano was lost for words to describe Lionel Messi after he put Barcelona on the verge of the UEFA Champions League final.
Barcelona's Javier Mascherano has given up trying to describe team-mate Lionel Messi, after the Argentine striker tore Bayern Munich apart in the Catalans' 3-0 UEFA Champions League semi-final first-leg win.
Luis Enrique's Barca have one foot in next month's final after a sparkling late brace from Messi and Neymar's stoppage-time third goal secured an ultimately comfortable victory at Camp Nou.
Messi's fierce low drive in the 77th minute opened the scoring, while an individual goal that saw him superbly flick the ball beyond Jerome Boateng and then loft it over Manuel Neuer put the game beyond doubt three minutes later.
Neymar capped off the hosts' victory in the 94th minute after being set up by none other than Messi.
And Mascherano told Sky Sports: "I think it was a very tight game, difficult, but we had the best chances to score. We played the game we wanted to play before the game.
"They tried to play a little bit wider and we found some spaces to play counter-attack. It's important when we can go a little bit deep to try to play the counter-attack to have players like Messi, Suarez and Neymar.
"He's a player [Messi] that's impossible to describe."
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Asked if the tie was over ahead of next week's second leg at the Allianz Arena, Mascherano added: "It's a good advantage but it's not done. We have to keep the mentality and try to do our job."