Barcelona 4 Stuttgart 0 (Agg 5-1):LIONEL MESSI staged another masterclass to power holders Barcelona into the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Stuttgart last night.
Messi struck a brilliant opener after just 12 minutes to put Barca on track, and then played a key role as Pedro Rodriguez made it 2-0 soon after as the Catalan giants built a 3-1 aggregate lead.
Messi, who was a constant menace, added a third on the hour mark to take his tally to eight goals in the last four games before Bojan Krkic completed the romp late on as Barca became Spain’s only representatives in the last eight.
Real Madrid, whose Bernabeu stadium will stage this year’s final, and Sevilla were both dumped out in the last week while Atletico Madrid bade farewell to the competition in the group stages.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola opted to start Thierry Henry as centre-forward instead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Frenchman was the home side’s biggest threat early on.
It was Messi who took centre stage after that, though.
Fresh from his stunning treble in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Valencia, the Argentinian broke the deadlock with a superb finish.
Yaya Toure fed the reigning Fifa World Player of the Year near the halfway line and the diminutive playmaker ventured unchallenged to the edge of the Stuttgart area before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Messi then turned provider 10 minutes later as Barca doubled their advantage. His brilliant pass inside the Stuttgart right-back was latched onto by Toure, and Pedro was waiting to fire home.
Those two early strikes put Barca in total control with Stuttgart creating little to trouble Victor Valdes and his defence. Messi again featured heavily as he extended Barca’s lead after 60 minutes. Pedro’s pass back to the edge of area was cleverly flicked into Messi’s path by Dani Alves, and the 22-year-old spun Timo Gebhart and drilled a left-footed shot past Lehmann from 20 yards out.
Messi had two chances to net his hat-trick before Barca managed to add to their tally and complete the rout as substitutes Ibrahimovic and Bojan combined in the 89th minute for the latter to slide home a low shot from outside the area.
BARCELONA: Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique, Puyol, Maxwell, Busquets (Ibrahimovic 66), Toure Yaya, Iniesta (Bojan 88), Messi, Henry (Milito 79), Pedro. Subs Not Used: Pinto, Marquez, Keita, Jeffren.
VFB STUTTGART: Lehmann, Celozzi (Gebhart 46), Niedermaier, Delpierre, Molinaro, Trasch, Kuzmanovic, Khedira, Hleb, Cacau, Pogrebniak (Marica 70). Subs Not Used: Stolz, Osorio, Boulahrouz, Rudy, Hilbert. Booked: Lehmann, Pogrebniak, Kuzmanovic.
Referee: Alain Hamer (Luxembourg).
Bordeaux 2 Olympiacos 1 (Bordeaux won 3-1 on agg)
BORDEAUX survived an unlikely Olympiacos fightback to book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals at the Stade Chaban Delmas last night.
Yoann Gourcuff’s superb free-kick gave Bordeaux an early lead. Gourcuff whipped a fierce right-footed effort into the far top corner of the net and the France midfielder saw another set-piece come back off the frame of the goal as visiting goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis struggled to cope with his delivery.
There looked no way back for Olympiacos when Matt Derbyshire was sent off in the 60th minute for two yellow cards in the space of seven minutes.
But substitute Kostas Mitroglou crashed home a 64th minute equaliser, and they received a second boost when the hosts’ captain Alou Diara also saw red to set up an interesting last quarter.
Bordeaux, though, sealed their progression in the 88th minute, Nikopolidis again caught out as Marouane Chamakh headed in at the far post.
BORDEAUX: Carrasso, Chalme, Sane, Ciani, Tremoulinas, Menegazzo, Diarra, Plasil (Sertic 84), Gourcuff,Wendell (Jussie 90), Chamakh. Subs Not Used: Rame, Henrique, Jurietti, Gouffran, Cavenaghi. Sent Off: Diarra (69). Booked: Diarra. Goals: Gourcuff 5, Chamakh 88.
OlYMPIACOS: Nikopolidis, Torosidis, Avraam Papadopoulos, Mellberg, Raul Bravo, Maresca, Stoltidis (Ledesma 81), Zairi (Mitroglou 62), LuaLua, Datolo, Derbyshire. Subs Not Used: Urko, Galitsios, Oscar, Zewlakow, Leonardo. Sent Off: Derbyshire (60). Booked: Torosidis, Derbyshire, Mellberg, Avraam Papadopoulos.
Referee: O Benquerenca (Leiria).
