Messi had scored 534 games in 620 goals for Barca, but none in eight games Chelsea before last night, and those looking to see if he could make amends were not to be disappointed.

Messi’s head to head against Eden Hazard was another subplot that you would want to see on a more regular basis. The battle between the two number 10s, each the talisman for their team, was a fascinating facet of the game.

Messi reigns in Spain, but it would be intriguing to see Hazard up against him more often and it is no secret Real Madrid would love to sign the Belgian. When he was asked about his future in the pre-match press conference, Hazard sidestepped the question as neatly as he goes past defenders.

Here he was deployed as a false nine for most of the evening, with Alvaro Morata kept on the subs’ bench until the final eight minutes.

The folly of that move was shown in the opening minutes when a high ball was thumped forward towards him; naturally Sergio Busquets outjumped him with ease. But Hazard’s skills are on the ground, where his low centre of gravity allows him to go past players like almost nobody else — except Messi.

The master showed how it should be done in the tenth minute when he collected the ball in his own half and suddenly drove at speed towards the heart of the Chelsea defence, going past two players comfortably and then leaving Antonio Rudiger looking like a schoolboy, as if he did not exist.

Hazard was not to be outdone, cutting in from the right and leaving Paulinho looking like the flop he was at Tottenham rather than the reborn samba star he has proved to be in Barcelona. Hazard also went close with a volley that fizzed over the bar in a first half in which Barcelona had most of the ball but the Blues had the best of the chances, with Willian hitting the woodwork left and right of centre.

When the brilliant Brazilian put Chelsea ahead in the 62nd minute, it was no surprise that Hazard was involved. Receiving the ball from a short corner on the left, the Belgian surprised a few by not cutting inside, instead curling the ball across the edge of the penalty area where Willian was waiting. A dip of the shoulder and shift to the right allowed Willian to fire the ball low past Marc-Andere Ter Stegen. Advantage Hazard, and Chelsea.

Messi was not to be outdone. Having drifted wide, right and left, and deep, the playmaker gathered markers like bees around a honeypot whenever he got a sight of goal. Chelsea defended heroically for so long, crowding him out, but when they made one mistake, in the 75th minute, he struck with the speed and venom of a cobra.

A sloppy crossfield pass was cut out by Iniesta, who cut the ball back intelligently towards his partner in crime. For once Messi found himself in yards of space inside the penalty area and he needed no second invitation. A first-time shot, with his left foot of course, gave Thibaut Courtois no chance and gave Barcelona a valuable draw — and an away goal.

That brings us on to the final intriguing subplot in this game between the reigning champions of Spain and England. With Manchester City, Tottenham, and Liverpool achieving excellent results in Switzerland, Italy, and Spain last week, one burning question was whether Chelsea could do the same against the best in the business.

They went close to getting the victory and clean sheet that would have sent them into the second leg in Spain with a real chance of progressing to the quarter finals.

But that man Messi would not have it, and his goal means Barcelona now have the advantage — but only just.