A Lionel Messi brace helped Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over 10-man Arsenal last night to put them into the quarter-finals of Champions League on a 4-3 aggregate.

The Argentine World Player of the Year was the difference as Barcelona produced another outstanding display of attacking football which left the Arsenal defence stretched from beginning to end.

The Catalan side needed just one goal after losing 2-1 at the Emirates and Messi put them ahead in first-half stoppage time.

An own goal by Sergio Busquets put Arsenal back on level terms but the game turned Barca’s way by the sending off of Robin van Persie three minutes later.

Xavi Hernandez levelled the tie at 2-1 and then Leo Messi scored the decider with a penalty.

Arsenal defended deeply as they sought to avoid a repetition of last season’s annihilation when after scoring an early opener they were torn apart with Messi getting all the goals in a 4-1 rout.

A last ditch block by Laurent Koscielny from a Pedro Rodriguez shot after just three minutes set the stall for the Gunners as they attempted to snuff out the threat from Barca’s trident attack led by Messi.

Arsenal suffered a set-back when keeper Wojciech Szczesny was forced off with a wrist injury and Manuel Almunia stepped in. Bar-celona looped ball after ball behind the Arsenal defence who most of the time were chasing shadows.

Koscielny made another important intervention and Johan Djourou made a tackle on Xavi Hernandez who burst into the box but Barca began to get frustrated as the goal did not appear to be coming.

The players remonstrated with the referee for what they saw as time wasting and in a heated spell Van Persie was booked for pushing Dani Alves in the face.

On the point of half-time Barca finally found their way through as Andres Iniesta played in Messi and the Argentine kept his head to delicately chip the ball over the keeper and volley it into an empty goal.

It appeared as though the visitors would be forced out of their shells but they drew level in bizarre circumstances. A corner was floated in and Busquets surrounded by other Barca players directed his header back into his own net.

A deflated home crowd were on their feet minutes later though as Van Persie was harshly given a second yellow card for shooting after the whistle had blown. With the noise from a 90,000 capacity crowd Van Persie could perhaps have been given the benefit of the doubt in his claim he didn’t hear the whistle.

With a man extra Barca pressed forward and a neat passing move split the Arsenal defence wide open. An Iniesta ball was flicked on by Villa into Xavi’s path and he finished coolly.

Minutes later and Barcelona extended their lead from the penalty spot with Messi slotting home after Pedro was upended by Koscielny.

Shakhtar in QFs

Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk made no mistake in ensuring they reached the quarter-finals for the first time with an impressive 3-0 victory over 10-man Roma to win 6-2 on aggregate yesterday.

Goals by Tomas Hubschman, Willian and Eduardo extended the 2009 UEFA Cup winners’ unbeaten home record in European competition to October 2008 when they went down to Sporting Lisbon.

After suffering a 3-2 home defeat in the first leg, Roma’s task was made virtually impossible when they were reduced to 10 men late in the first-half when Philippe Mexes was sent off for a second booking.

Czech midfielder Hubschman took the congratulations of his team-mates in the 18th minute for the goal though it appeared that he had not got a touch to Willian’s low cross.

Roma, though, wasted a golden opportunity to equalise just before the half hour mark as referee Howard Webb awarded them a penalty after Henrik Mkhitaryan was penalised for holding back Marco Borriello.

But Roma’s leading scorer then produced a dreadful effort which was saved by Andriy Pyatov.

The visitors’ chances took another huge blow in the 41st minute as Mexes was sent off after being booked for a second time by Webb when he tugged back Luis Adriano.

However, Webb was found wanting on the stroke of half-time when he booked Shakhtar captain Dario Srna instead of Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi, who merited a red card for a clear and malicious elbow on Srna and made worse as the referee failed to award a penalty as the offence took place inside the Italians’ penalty area.

In the 58th minute, the 22-year-old Willian produced a finish of the highest class, bringing down a corner from outside the box and curling a half-volley into the top corner to send the Ukrainians into raptures.

Eduardo rounded off a memorable evening for the hosts as he broke free three minutes from time and easily put the ball past Doni.

Round of 16 – second legs

S. Donetsk 3
Hubschman 18; Willian 58; Eduardo 87;
Roma 0

Red card: Mexes (R) 41.
Missed penalty: Borriello (R) 28.
(S. Donetsk win 6-2 on aggregate)

Barcelona 3
Messi 45, 71 pen; Xavi 69;
Arsenal 1
Busquets 53 og;

Red card: Van Persie (A) 56.
(Barcelona win 4-3 on aggregate)

Today – 20.45
Tottenham vs Milan (first leg: 1-0)
Schalke 04 vs Valencia (first leg: 1-1)

Tuesday, March 15
Man. United vs Marseille (first leg: 0-0)
B. Munich vs Inter (first leg: 1-0)

Wednesday, March 16
Chelsea vs Copenhagen (first leg: 2-0)
R. Madrid vs O. Lyon (first leg: 1-1)

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