Barcelona all but secured a place in the Champions League semi-final with a dominant 3-1 victory at Paris Saint-Germain.
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Luis Suarez was the hero with a brilliant second-half brace after Neymar had given the Spanish team an early lead, and Gregory van der Wiel’s late consolation will surely prove immaterial in next week’s second leg at the Nou Camp.
PSG’s chances weren’t helped by an early injury to captain Thiago Silva whose replacement – a half-fit David Luiz – was humiliated by Suarez as he was nutmegged for both of the Uruguayan’s goals.
Barcelona were largely in complete control of the clash, dominating in midfield areas and showing impressive clinicality in the final third.
PSG may have given themselves a small glimmer of hope when Van der Wiel’s speculative strike deflected off Jeremy Mathieu and in, but that was surely too little, too late.
Meanwhile, Porto have one foot in the Champions League’s semi-finals after their shock 3-1 win at home over Bayern Munich in last night’s first leg.
The Portuguese side carry a weighty advantage to Munich for Tuesday’s return leg at the Allianz Arena while Bayern have a glimmer of hope after their away goal, but still need to score at least twice in Germany.
Sammer, @FCBayernEN: “We were prepared for Porto’s pressing but that’s football at the highest level. We need to shake this off.” #UCL
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 15, 2015
Porto coach Julen Lopetegui got one over his ex-Barcelona teammate Pep Guardiola with his side now closing in on a first semi-final appearance since 2004 when they won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho.
Lopetegui said Porto needed to be “perfect” and they got off to a dream start as right winger Ricardo Quaresma – a disaster with Dubai’s Al Ahli in 2013 – scored twice in the opening 10 minutes.
Bayern pulled one back through Thiago Alcantara with 28 minutes gone. But Porto captain Jackson Martinez, a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up after several weeks out with a groin injury, added their third on 65 minutes for his 27th goal of the season.
