Thierry Henry lavished praise on Barcelona forward Lionel Messi after the Argentine inspired his side to a 3-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

After a breathless first half at Camp Nou, Messi scored twice before setting up Neymar for a potentially vital third in injury time.

Messi's second – a delicate chip over Manuel Neuer – came at the expense of Jerome Boateng, who slipped as he tried to thwart the forward, and Henry was left bewitched by the 27-year-old's performance.

"Once again, how many times [are] we going to say that Lionel Messi just happened? That's just what happened tonight," Henry, who won the 2009 Champions League with the Argentine, told Sky Sports.

"I think, as we talked about, Bayern didn't approach the game the right way at the beginning, but in the second half there wasn't a lot between the two teams. But then Lionel Messi decided to win that game.

"Although you have to give a lot of credit to Dani Alves on that first goal because he got that ball back.

"But Lionel Messi is just superb. How many times are we going to find ourselves being in that situation and talking about him? He wanted to win that game and he did it again."