By ,
Published May 02, 2016
Barcelona, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Ivan Rakitic netted a first-half tally on Wednesday to hand Barcelona a 1-0 second-leg victory over Manchester City at the Camp Nou as the Catalans advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a 3-1 aggregate triumph.
The La Liga club grabbed the initiative in the opening leg of the tie when former Liverpool star Luis Suarez netted a pair of goals at the Etihad Stadium to stake the club to a 2-1 aggregate lead heading home.
At the Camp Nou Barcelona again had the better of the play from the outset and carved out the first quality chance of the night after just seven minutes when Neymar slipped through the City defense and went for placement over power with his strike, but it clanged off the left post and rolled behind for a goal kick.
The Catalans opened the scoring in the 31st minute as Lionel Messi galloped into the penalty area on the right side of the pitch and looked up to see two City defenders marking him. He lofted a long switched ball across the box to Rakitic, who deftly controlled with one touch and lofted it over City goalkeeper Joe Hart into the bottom right corner for a 3-1 aggregate advantage.
City picked up its pace in the second half and answered with a chance in the early stages as Yaya Toure let a strike go from outside the box, but it sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.
The Citizens had a prime opportunity to get back in the game in the 78th minute when Sergio Aguero was pulled down in the box, resulting in a penalty kick, but Aguero's take was poor and easily saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen
The fourth official's board showed only two minutes of added time, which Barcelona was able to see out with ease to advance to the next round, eliminating the last remaining English club from the competition.
In Wednesday's other Champions League fixture, Carlos Tevez netted a pair of goals to go with a third strike from Alvaro Morata as Juventus rolled to a 3-0 second leg and 5-1 aggregate victory over Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park.
The Old Lady was in control from the outset as Tevez put the club in front after just three minutes and Morata added the second tally with 20 minutes to play.
Tevez, the former Manchester City forward put an exclamation point on Juve's ticket to the quarterfinals when he completed his brace in the 79th minute, ending Dortmund's Champions League hopes.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/barca-top-city-to-reach-cl-quarterfinals