LIONEL Messi, Neymar and Luís Suárez; your ladies took one hell of a beating.

Last week, Bristol Academy, boasting the talents of lifelong Swindon Town fan and former player Nikki Watts, knocked the Barcelona women’s team out of the Champions League.

Nikki, 27, scored the penalty on Thursday night which secured a 1-1 draw and an aggregate triumph of 2-1 over a professional outfit which shares a shirt with the biggest names in football.

The vital advantage was taken in the first leg of the tie one week earlier, in the shadow of the Nou Camp stadium, Barcelona where, on the training pitch, Nikki and her teammates ended their hosts' 55-match unbeaten run at home.

“It was pretty incredible. It was really amazing night and really good for the club,” said Nikki, who lives in Hungerford.

“It’s the highlight of my footballing career.

“My dad told me before we went out they were unbeaten for 55 matches. I thanked him for telling me that. Records are there to be beaten.

“We toured the Nou Camp on the Friday and were on the training pitch for the Saturday. It feels like a dream to have even played there.

“The manager kept saying ‘we are not playing the men’s team, it’s just 11 other women’.

“They were a very, very good team. If they played in our league they would walk it. They were technically so good.”

Nikki started out with Coleview Girls as a nine-year-old centre forward, who went on to play for Swindon Town Ladies.

She would go on to play for Penn State University in the United States on a scholarship before returning to the UK with Reading and ultimately Bristol Academy.

The highlight of her career played out in front of 2,500 spectators under the floodlights of Ashton Gate.

She saw a teammate go down, fouled, watched the referee blow and point to the spot, but none of it registered as to what it would mean for her.

“I had seen she got fouled and the ref’s blown the whistle and you think ‘yes’, but then ‘oh no’," she said, as the penny dropped on who would be responsible for the spot-kick.

“The ref booked the girl and there was bit of a delay. I knew where I was going to put it.

“It’s weird because my dad had said on the Tuesday, when I was sat there polishing my boots, ‘you’re going to score the winner on Thursday with a last minute penalty’.

“It was a night to remember and obviously something to tell the kids and grandkids in years to come.

“That’s why you play the game.”