Messi feeling Blue as Chelsea jinx continues

24 April 2012 23:47

Lionel Messi's scoring jinx against Chelsea struck again as the Barcelona maestro missed a second-half penalty which could have put the Catalans into the Champions League final.

With Chelsea down to 10 men and trailing 2-1 on the night, Messi was handed a golden opportunity to end his seven-match scoring drought against the Blues after Cesc Fabregas was brought down by Didier Drogba.

But instead of firing Barcelona 3-1 ahead, the FIFA World Player of the Year was left stunned as his shot crashed back off the crossbar.

Chelsea then dug in to frustrate Messi at every turn through the remainder of the second half, and Fernando Torres' late goal on the counter-attack sealed a miserable night for the Argentinian maestro.

Messi has now failed to score in eight matches against Chelsea in the Champions League.

Barcelona's exit from the competition means Messi will have to wait before he breaks the record for a single European Cup campaign that he currently shares with Jose Altafini, who scored 14 goals for AC Milan in 1962-1963.

Overall, Messi has scored 63 goals in 55 games this season, four shy of Gerd Muller's all-time single-season European record of 67.

Source: AFP