Messi shatters City dreams

Barcelona advance to quarterfinals on 4-1 aggregate; PSG oust Leverkusen

Lionel Messi struck to end Manchester City's dreams of a famous comeback as Barcelona beat the English club 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarterfinals 4-1 on aggregate.

Barca looked far from the classic team who lifted the trophy in 2009 and 2011 but a stuttering version under Gerardo Martino that had lost two of their last three games was still far too strong for the Premier League club.

City, who lost the first leg of the last-16 tie 2-0 at home, were a constant threat to the Spanish champions, but they were left to rue missed chances by David Silva, Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta.

Captain Vincent Kompany levelled for the visitors on the night with a tap-in in the 89th minute, but Dani Alves responded by sweeping home the winner in the first minute of stoppage time.

City had been reduced to 10 men by then after Zabaleta was shown a second yellow card for dissent in the 78th minute.

The Argentine defender was incensed with referee Stephane Lannoy's decision to ignore City's strong penalty claims when substitute Edin Dzeko went down in the area under a challenge by Gerard Pique.

"It was a clear penalty," Kompany told Sky Sports. "Dzeko was in position to shoot and his trigger foot was caught.

"We have got nothing left in the tank. We gave everything and a few times we could have scored and obviously that would have changed the game,”Kompany said.

Messi put his side in front by producing a neat finish with the outside of his left boot from close range in the 67th minute after defender Joleon Lescott failed to stop a routine through-ball from Cesc Fabregas.

Barca had begun the game deeper than usual, looking to entice City to come at them so they could pounce on the counter. It was a tentative game early on as City held back and Barca's passing lacked fluidity.

The first half ended in a flourish as Neymar took advantage of a slip by Aleksandar Kolarov and his shot was scrambled wide by Joe Hart, while he also had another effort cleared off the line by Fernandinho.

In between, Nasri fired straight at Victor Valdes having been set up by Silva and the Spaniard also wasted a golden chance when he fired over with his favoured left foot from 15 metres out.

After the break Messi's threat grew and in the 50th minute he cut in from the right and hit the post with a low left-foot shot from inside the area.

City were still in the contest until Lescott got in a tangle just inside his own area, and the English defender's worst fears were realised when he turned round to see Messi latch on to the loose ball, deceive Hart with his finish, and send Barca on their way to the last eight for the seventh successive season.

PSG through

Paris St Germain made light of resting key players and an under-par display from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to sail into the quarters with a 6-1 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen in the other match that was played on Wednesday.

The French champions won 2-1 at the Parc des Princes having thrashed the German side 4-0 in the last-16 first leg, with Marquinhos and Ezequiel Lavezzi wiping out the visitors' early strike by Sidney Sam. Sami Hyypia's Leverkusen, who finished with 10 men after Emre Can picked up a second yellow card in the 68th minute, were also hampered by Simon Rolfes's missed penalty in the first half.

PSG, who have now won their last six games in all competitions, could have gone through even more easily had Ibrahimovic not missed a couple of clear chances either side of the interval.