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Sports

Barca takes commanding lead over PSG in UCL quarters

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Paris, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Barcelona placed one foot in the Champions League semifinals by claiming an emphatic 3-1 victory over PSG at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

The visitors needed just 18 minutes to break the deadlock as Lionel Messi slipped a through ball into the path of a wide-open Neymar, and the Brazilian made no mistake with the finish, cooly slotting a right-footed shot past a diving Salvatore Sirigu.

Barcelona dictated play for large portions of the contest but only managed to extend the lead in the 67th minute through a brilliant solo effort from Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan eased past David Luiz and Marquinhos to drift in from the right side before holding off Maxwell and tucking a right-footed shot past Sirigu at the near post.

Suarez added another goal to compound PSG's misery, sliding the ball through David Luiz's legs for a second time in the match before curling a superb right-footed effort into the far top corner in the 79th minute.

The hosts did manage to pull one back just three minutes later when Gregory van der Wiel's attempt took a massive deflection off of Jeremy Mathieu to wrong-foot Marc-Andre ter Stegen and find the back of the net, but PSG still faces a major mountain to climb in the second leg due to Barcelona's three away goals.

Bayern Munich also faces a difficult road to the semifinals after the Bundesliga side suffered a 3-1 defeat to FC Porto at the Estadio Dragao on Wednesday.

Porto took an early lead after Manuel Neuer brought down Jackson Martinez in the penalty area, allowing Ricardo Quaresma to hammer home the ensuing spot attempt in the fourth minute.

Quaresma then doubled Porto's lead just six minutes later, pouncing on a giveaway from the Bayern defense and closing in on goal to slip an uncontested shot past Neuer.

Bayern cut the deficit in half in the 28th minute when Thiago Alcantara turned in a square pass from Jerome Boateng, but Porto restored the two-goal lead in the 65th minute when Martinez ran through on goal, eased his way around Neuer and tucked a shot into the unguarded net.