<p>FIFA World Player Lionel Messi scored twice for Barca, veteran playmaker Xavi got the other goal. Barca's Sergio Busquets gave Arsenal brief hope with a luckless own goal.<br />Barca went into the quarters on a 4-3 aggregate, after losing 2-1 in the first leg in London.<br /><br />Arsenal left the Camp Nou complaining about Italian referee Massimo Busacca, who harshly sent off Robin Van Persie and gave Barca a debatable penalty, from which Messi scored the winning goal.<br /><br />Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia said, "There were a couple of important decisions which went against us tonight. We are annoyed because these decisions changed the game.<br /><br />Barca defender Eric Abidal, for his part said: "It was a very difficult game for us, especially after they scored. But we played well and showed our character.<br /><br />"It was a little easier for us when they were down to 10 men. But even so, it was still very hard."<br /><br />When asked which team he would prefer to face in the quarter-finals, Abidal opted for Lyon, his hometown club.<br /><br />Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger started with a defensive lineup, keeping Nicklas Bendtner and Andrei Arshavin on the bench, which left Van Persie completely alone upfield.<br /><br />Barca struggled to beak down the packed Arsenal defence in the first half, and the visitors almost got to half-time at 0-0. However, they were were hit by a moment of magic from Messi three minutes into stoppage time.<br /><br />Andres Iniesta fed Messi going into the penalty area and the impish Argentine deceived goalkeeper Manuel Almunia with two classy touches before volleying in the first goal.<br /><br />Almunia had come on to replace young Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny, who suffered an early finger injury saving a long-range free-kick from Dani Alves.<br /><br />But disaster struck for Barca eight minutes into the second half, when Busquets - who saw little of the ball because of the presence of Adriano and Abou Diaby - made it 1-1 by heading into his own goal.<br /><br />Three minutes later Van Persie, who passed a late fitness test, earned himself a needless second yellow card for kicking the ball away after having being ruled offside.<br /><br />Barca took advantage of having an extra man to raise their possession to almost 70 percent. In the 69th minute Xavi made it 2-1 with a calm finish, after a breath-taking move through the middle between Iniesta and David Villa.<br /><br />And just two minutes later, with Arsenal against the ropes, Xavi set up Pedro and the little winger was pulled down by Laurent Koscielny for a disputed penalty.<br /><br />Messi coolly sent Almunia the wrong way to make it 3-1 from the penalty spot.<br /><br />Ibrahim Affelay and Alves should have put Arsenal out of their misery with a fourth goal but lacked Messi's coolness in front of goal.<br /><br />At the other end, a bad mistake by Adriano almost led to Bendtner scoring what would have been a miraculous second away goal for Arsenal.<br /></p>
<p>FIFA World Player Lionel Messi scored twice for Barca, veteran playmaker Xavi got the other goal. Barca's Sergio Busquets gave Arsenal brief hope with a luckless own goal.<br />Barca went into the quarters on a 4-3 aggregate, after losing 2-1 in the first leg in London.<br /><br />Arsenal left the Camp Nou complaining about Italian referee Massimo Busacca, who harshly sent off Robin Van Persie and gave Barca a debatable penalty, from which Messi scored the winning goal.<br /><br />Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia said, "There were a couple of important decisions which went against us tonight. We are annoyed because these decisions changed the game.<br /><br />Barca defender Eric Abidal, for his part said: "It was a very difficult game for us, especially after they scored. But we played well and showed our character.<br /><br />"It was a little easier for us when they were down to 10 men. But even so, it was still very hard."<br /><br />When asked which team he would prefer to face in the quarter-finals, Abidal opted for Lyon, his hometown club.<br /><br />Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger started with a defensive lineup, keeping Nicklas Bendtner and Andrei Arshavin on the bench, which left Van Persie completely alone upfield.<br /><br />Barca struggled to beak down the packed Arsenal defence in the first half, and the visitors almost got to half-time at 0-0. However, they were were hit by a moment of magic from Messi three minutes into stoppage time.<br /><br />Andres Iniesta fed Messi going into the penalty area and the impish Argentine deceived goalkeeper Manuel Almunia with two classy touches before volleying in the first goal.<br /><br />Almunia had come on to replace young Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny, who suffered an early finger injury saving a long-range free-kick from Dani Alves.<br /><br />But disaster struck for Barca eight minutes into the second half, when Busquets - who saw little of the ball because of the presence of Adriano and Abou Diaby - made it 1-1 by heading into his own goal.<br /><br />Three minutes later Van Persie, who passed a late fitness test, earned himself a needless second yellow card for kicking the ball away after having being ruled offside.<br /><br />Barca took advantage of having an extra man to raise their possession to almost 70 percent. In the 69th minute Xavi made it 2-1 with a calm finish, after a breath-taking move through the middle between Iniesta and David Villa.<br /><br />And just two minutes later, with Arsenal against the ropes, Xavi set up Pedro and the little winger was pulled down by Laurent Koscielny for a disputed penalty.<br /><br />Messi coolly sent Almunia the wrong way to make it 3-1 from the penalty spot.<br /><br />Ibrahim Affelay and Alves should have put Arsenal out of their misery with a fourth goal but lacked Messi's coolness in front of goal.<br /><br />At the other end, a bad mistake by Adriano almost led to Bendtner scoring what would have been a miraculous second away goal for Arsenal.<br /></p>