Barcelona 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk: Hosts put

themselves firmly in the driving seat with five

star performance at the Nou Camp
The Catalan giants edged closer to a probable
semi-final meeting with Real Madrid by
putting the Ukrainians to the sword at the
Camp Nou

Barcelona staked their claim for a semi-final berth in the

Champions League by ruthlessly despatching Shakhtar
Donetsk 4-1 at the Camp Nou this evening.

Goals from Andres Iniesta, Dani Alves and Gerard Pique

handed the home side a position of dominance, and although
the visitors pulled a goal back through Rakitskiy, Seydou
Keita's piledriver and Xavi's late fifth swung the pendulum
back in favour of the 2009 European champions, with Real
Madrid potentially lying in wait in the last four.

The Catalan crowd had barely settled into the seats before
their charges had settled early nerves by breaking the
deadlock.

Lionel Messi's through pass took a deflection into the path of

Iniesta, who composed himself before slotting inside Pyatov's
near post from close range.

It was a nightmare start for the Ukrainians, but across the next
twenty minutes they had a series of opportunities to level the
match. Luiz Adriano ran clear only for his touch to desert him,
then moments later he could only poke wide of goal when
one-on-one with Victor Valdes.

Then, Alves' short back-pass forced Valdes to rush from his

line to clear, and Willian could only return the ball wide of the
empty net. Pep Guardiola appeared concerned as to the
chances his team were offering, but they soon took control,
and moved two in front just after the half-hour mark.

Iniesta waited patiently for Alves to make the run in behind

full-back Razvan Rat, and picked him out with a glorious
curving pass that the Brazilian controlled just ahead of Pyatov,
before rolling home.

Instan
t impact | Andres Iniesta gave the hosts the lead two minutes
in to proceedings
The match was stretching out of the reach Shakhtar at this
stage, and at the beginning of the second period their task
verged on the insurmountable. A well-worked corner saw
Pique dart across the penalty spot, and his low shot caught the
body of Rakitskiy before finding the corner of the net.
Mircea Lucescu's visitors were given a reprieve on the hour,
however, as Darijo Srna's free-kick was converted by the shin
of Rakitskiy, and suddenly the tie appeared competitive once
more.

It lasted no longer than 60 seconds however, as Messi burst

forward with pace and intent, eventually sliding the ball left to
Keita, who lashed the ball high into the roof of Pyatov's goal.

Keita's thunderbolt dented Shakhtar's spirit, but the

unfortunate Luiz Adriano was agonisingly denied a second
away goal for his team, when his far post shot cannoned off
the inside of the post and rebouded into the arms of Valdes.

Messi had a goal ruled out for offside a minute later, but the
scoring was complete on 86 minutes when the hugely
impressive Alves shimmied and struck a low cross that found
Xavi unmarked, and Barca's record appearance holder swept
home, to effectively end the tie.

Pep Guardiola's side will take a 5-1 lead to the Donbass

Arena, an advantage that is surely decisive, but Shakhtar will
be left to rue what might have been had they been more
clinical in front of goal.