Lionel Messi celebrates his strike against Napoli.
Lionel Messi celebrates his strike against Napoli. Image Credit: AP

Sunil Chhetri, the captan of the India national football team, hailed Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi after the Argentine scored a stunning goal in an all-round top-class performance in the Champions League win over Napoli on Saturday night.

“Messi,” tweeted Chhetri with three folded hands emojis after the Barca captain scored an outrageous goal in the 23rd minute to make it 3-1 in his team’s favour. “Stayed late after ages to watch live football — completely worth,” he tweeted later.

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With the match delicately poised at 1-1 after the first leg way back in February, Barca defender Clement Lenglet opened the scoring at Camp Nou for the hosts before Messi worked his magic.

Sunil Chhetri

The diminutive Argentine picked up the ball out wide on the right and wove his way through three Napoli defenders, and regained his balance to curl the ball into the far corner. Messi had another goal chalked off for offside before Luis Suarez made it 3-1 on the night with a penalty. Lorenzo Insigne got the consolation Napoli.