Barcelona: Lionel Messi scored four goals, getting a hat trick in a 22-minute span of the first half, to carry defending champion Barcelona over Arsenal by 4-1 on Tuesday night and into the European Champions League semifinals.
Barcelona won the home-and-home, total-goals series on 6-3 aggregate and will play Inter Milan in the semifinals starting April 20 in Italy, with the second leg in Spain eight days later a berth in the final on May 22 in Madrid.
Nicklas Bendtner, whose injury-time goal gave Arsenal a Premier League victory over Wolverhampton last weekend, put the Gunners ahead in the 18th minute.
Messi, the reigning FIFA player of the year, then took over, scoring in the 21st, 37th and 42nd minutes for a 3-1 lead. He got his 39th goal of the season in the 88th minute after Manuel Almunia stopped his initial shot and Messi put the rebound through the goalkeeper's legs.
With eight goals, Messi moved one ahead of Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo for the scoring lead in the competition this season. Bendtner tied Manchester United's Wayne Rooney for third with five goals each.
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