Barca ease through

Barcelona eased into the semifinals of the Champions League on Tuesday, Lionel Messi scoring the only goal against Shakhtar Donetsk in their quarterfinal second leg match to complete a 6-1 aggregate success with a club record 48th goal of the season.
Barca, champions in 1992, 2006 and 2009, will now meet either bitter rivals Real Madrid or Tottenham in the last four after Messi made the difference just two minutes before the break to reach the semifinals for the fourth successive season.
"This fourth consecutive qualification for the semifinals is a huge achievement," said Barca coach Pep Guardiola.
"Barcelona have never done this before. This is a huge pleasure.”
Messi moved to the head of the goascoring charts in this season's tournament by breaking the deadlock at the Donbass Arena, firing in low and left-footed.
A deft flick almost saw the Argentine double the advantage on the night to give Shakhtar, seeking to regroup after a weekend home loss to Obolon, even more of a mountain to climb after a 5-1 romp for the Catalan club in the Nou Camp.
Yet the Ukrainians had enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges despite being without captain Dario Srna owing to an injured thigh while Olexandr Kucher and former Barca defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy were also on the casualty list and left back Razvan Rat was suspended.
However, Barca weathered the early storm and Messi's riposte deflated their hosts.
Dutch forward Ibrahim Afellay was handed a starting berth on the right flank in place of groin strain victim Pedro with David Villa and Messi spearheading matters in attack.
Barca were keen to avoid any further injury worries with this weekend bringing a key league clash against Real - whom they lead by eight points.
Lucescu surprisingly left Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho off his starting selection but did pick Luiz Adriano up front, and his side fought gamely after the break but were unable to force their way back into the tie as Barca cantered on.
Henrik Mkhitaryan came closest to giving the home crowd something to shout when it took a superlative save from Victor Valdes to keep out his 74th-minute goalbound effort.