Following Lionel Messi's brace against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, a former Red Devils star believes it was Chris Smalling's challenge in the first leg that woke up the beast within the Argentine.
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The Argentine was met with rough tackles in the first leg of their quarter-final at Old Trafford, especially from Smalling, who, after one challenge, left the 31-year-old with a bloody nose and eye.
Despite contributing the only goal in Barca's 1-0 away win over the Red Devils, Messi was kept relatively quiet for the rest of the first leg, but came alive when the Blaugrana hosted United at the Camp Nou this week.
Speaking about Messi's display in the return fixture, former United defender Rio Ferdinand feels the forward simply responded to the treatment he received in the first leg.
"He just comes alive, he really does. One of the best live performances I have ever seen," Ferdinand told BT Sport.
"Smalling smashed him in the first game, it is probably the worst thing that could have happened. He woke the beast up.
"A player of this ability, sometimes you just have to say he is too good. Just to be here... there will be people in this stadium who can say: 'I was there to see Messi.'"
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Messi has scored 10 goals and assisted a further three strikes in eight UCL matches so far this season.
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