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Messi: Barca were extraordinary against Spurs

Cape Town - Lionel Messi saluted his Barcelona team-mates following their 4-2 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Wednesday night.

The mercurial maestro scored two goals in the second half of their Champions League tie after an early opener from Philippe Coutinho and one midway through the opening period from Ivan Rakitic in a thrilling game in London.

A heavily-depleted Spurs side were briefly in the match when Harry Kane reduced the deficit to one goal before Messi netted, while Erik Lamela did the same - only for Messi to make sure of the points late on.

After the tie, the Argentine told the club's official website: "We played excellently.

"It is never easy to play away from home in the Champions League, but we were extraordinary in the first half. We are happy because it turned out how we wanted to. The opposition were lost at the start and we were superior."

The Barca captain twice hit the left Spurs upright before scoring, and added: "We had a little bit of bad luck with two posts and letting a goal in. Then we took the lead and they scored from a deflection. However, we got over it, we had the ball and played our game."

The result leaves the Catalan club on top of Group B with maximum points from two games. But while Barca will be gunning for Champions League success, Messi says the club are aiming for as many trophies as possible this season.

"We will not leave any competition behind even though the Champions League is special. We won’t stop fighting for La Liga and the Copa del Rey."

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