Titanbet offering odds on Messi to score hat-trick against Arsenal

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Lionel Messi is 5/1 with Titanbet Sports UK to score a hat-trick in either leg of Barcelona's Champions League last 16 showdown with Arsenal.

The Barca talisman seems to enjoy piling the misery on the Gunners when these sides meet.

When they clashed in the quarter-finals in 2010, Messi helped himself to four goals in the second leg in the Nou Camp, including a stunning hat-trick that required just 21 minutes to complete.

A year later, after having uncharacteristically missed a hatful of chances at the Emirates, Messi scored a brace in the return leg.

It is not just the threat of Messi that stares Arsenal down, as the Barcelona attacking trinity that also includes Luis Suarez and Neymar has terrorized defences across Europe.

And with the feared "MSN" strike force on the horizon, Titanbet Sports UK offers 9/2 that Neymar will score in both legs against Arsenal.

Olivier Giroud was the hero as Arsenal booked its last 16 spot and he will need more heroics if Arsene Wenger's team are going to progress further, with the Frenchman at 12/1 with Titanbet Sports UK to score in both legs.

In seven previous Champions League meetings, Arsenal has shipped 17 goals to Barcelona – an average of just less than 2.5 goals per game.

Including its 2-1 defeat in the final in Paris in 2006, Wenger's side has lost three of its last five games against Barcelona.

With such a prolific attacking trio in their ranks, could the 19/10 offered by Titanbet Sports UK that Barcelona will score more than five goals across both legs prove tempting?

Russell Yershon, U.K. sports manager for Titanbet Sports UK, fears for the Gunners against Messi, Neymar and Suarez.

"Of the 16 teams left in the competition, only Roma conceded more goals than Arsenal in the group stage," Yershon said. "It is hard to forget the apparent gulf in class that existed when the Gunners travelled to Bayern Munich in November.

"With their famed attacking trio, this Barcelona team have the weapons to become the first team to retain the Champions League and it is tough to picture Arsenal blunting them."