Barcelona: Lionel Messi started one of soccer's classic comebacks with a pair of first-half goals, and Barcelona overwhelmed AC Milan to reach their sixth straight Champions League quarterfinal. Messi scored in the fifth and 40th minutes, and Barcelona went on to a 4-0 victory on Tuesday night that gave them a 4-2 aggregate win. Barcelona became the first team ever to advance in Europe's top club competition after losing the first leg 2-0 on the road.
"We went out gunning from the start, and scoring early helped us," said David Villa, who scored the third goal. "We have believed in the comeback ever since we lost in Milan, and belief combined with hard work is how you achieve things." Messi, before a screaming crowd of 99,786 at Camp Nou, Europe's largest stadium, scored to goalkeeper Christian Abbiati's right with curling left-footed shot into the upper corner from 17 yards between two defenders. He scored the second goal to Abbiati's left with a low 19-yard shot after Andres Iniesta stole the ball from Massimo Ambrosini, moving into sole possession of second on the Champions League career list with 58.
"For anyone who doubted Messi, today Messi gave a lesson on how to play football," said Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura, in charge of the team while Tito Vilanova is being treated for a throat tumor in New York. "He is extraordinary, and surrounded by great players, he is capable of doing what he does." David Villa put Barcelona ahead in the series in the 55th minute with a 14-yard shot after Cristian Zapata's weak clearance was intercepted by Javier Mascherano, and Kevin Constant missed a sliding tackle on Xavi's through pass to the forward. Left back Jordi Alba sealed the win when he raced the length of the field on a counterattack keyed by a Messi pass in the second minute of stoppage time.
"Milan only needed a goal, but we knew how to handle the game very well," Alba said. "This is a very important win for us. A lot was at stake." AC Milan, a seven-time champion, won the first leg at San Siro on Feb. 20 and nearly got a valuable away goal in the 38th minute, but 18-year-old forward M'baye Niang hit a post with an open shot after a sloppy headed backpass by Javier Mascherano. If Niang had tied the game 1-1, Barcelona would have needed at least three more goals at that point to advance because away goals are a tiebreaker.
"Barcelona is still the best team in the world. Moving on was a true feat," Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said. "The first leg didn't change these two teams, and whoever thought so was wrong. We played worse than in the first leg, but that is to Barcelona's credit." Messi, the four-time FIFA Player of the Year, passed Ruud van Nistelrooy (56) on the Champions League scoring list and trails only Raul Gonzalez (71). With his 18th multi goal game of the season, Messi increased his season goals total to 53.
Led by the 25-year-old Messi, Barcelona is seeking its fourth Champions League title in eight years and is closing in on their sixth Spanish league championship in nine seasons. Barcelona are 16-0-4 at home in the Champions League since a loss to Ruben Kazan in October 2009. Milan lost by four goals for the first time since a 4-0 Champions League defeat at Manchester United in March 2010.
In the night's other match, Galatasaray won 3-2 at Schalke to advance on 4-3 aggregate and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2001. After Roman Roman Neustaedter put Schalke ahead in the 17th minute, Galatasaray took a 2-1 lead when Hamit Altintop scored against his former team in the 37th and Burak Yilmaz got a goal in the 42nd. Michel Bastos scored for the hosts in the 63rd, leaving the Turkish team ahead on away goals, and Umut Bulut ended any doubt when he scored for Galatasaray in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Real Madrid, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain also are in Friday's quarterfinal draw. In the final second-round matches on Wednesday, Arsenal will try to overturn a 3-1 deficit at Bayern Munich and Porto will go to Malaga with a 1-0 lead. If Arsenal is eliminated, England won't have a team in the last eight for the first time since the 1995-96 season.####
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