Messi magic ends 12-year jinx

London: Barcelona's Lionel Messi had to wait 12 years and endure a goal drought of eight games against Chelsea but he finally broke his duck in Tuesday's 1-1 Champions League last 16, first leg draw.

 The last time Barca played Chelsea, in a semi-final in 2012, Messi whacked a penalty against the bar which allowed the London side to claw their way back to an unlikely win at the Camp Nou.

The diminutive Argentine atoned on Tuesday, giving Barcelona a precious away goal as he strode on to a pass from Andres Iniesta in the 75th minute and calmly side-footed the ball home to cancel out Willian’s opener for Chelsea 13 minutes earlier.

“For us he is the best player in the world. He’s not just any player,” Barca midfielder Ivan Rakitic said of Messi.

The Argentine has now scored 98 Champions League goals compared to his Real Madrid rival Ronaldo's 116 in the competition. Chelsea coach Antonio Conte said his side played almost the perfect game against Champions League favourites Barcelona on Tuesday, but he was still disappointed with the 1-1 home leg result.

The Italian's Premier League champions have struggled to impose themselves in domestic football this season but soaked up Barcelona pressure before Willian scored in the 62nd minute of their last-16 first leg tie.

"I think we were very close to playing a perfect game," Conte said."We made one mistake but against these opponents like (Lionel) Messi, (Andres) Iniesta and (Luis) Suarez, if you make a mistake you pay."

Barca had two shots on target and scored with the second, when Iniesta cut the ball back to Messi in the 75th minute with the Chelsea defence out of position.