neymar at the double as barcelona ease through published: tuesday 21 april 2015, 22.35cet fc barcelona 2-0 paris saint-germain (agg: 5-1) neymar scored twice in the opening 34 minutes as barcelona advanced to the semi-finals in fine style.
• neymar scores twice in the first half to take his competition tally to six this term • barcelona through to the last four for the seventh time in eight seasons • the catalan club stretch unbeaten run to 13 games, 12 of them wins • exclusive behind-the-scenes photography from barcelona and munich • the semi-final draw takes place in nyon from 12.00cet on friday
fc barcelona are through to the uefa champions league semi-finals for the seventh time in eight seasons after another scintillating display against paris saint-germain.
outstanding last week as they opened up a 3-1 first-leg lead in the french capital, luis enrique's men picked up where they left off. while paris were hurried whenever they had possession, the catalan club looked to have all the time in the world to run the visitors' back line ragged. two goals from neymar – the first a peach – meant the job was done by the 34th minute. from then on it was energy preservation, barcelona-style.
"ıt's practically impossible not to concede against barcelona," laurent blanc said on the eve of this quarter-final decider; he probably had ambitions of holding out for longer than 14 minutes, though. ıt was a wonderful goal, stemming from a poor javier mascherano pass right outside the home box. jordi alba was aware, getting to the ball just ahead of zlatan ıbrahimović; it was the cue for andrés ıniesta.
the 30-year-old has had a difficult season relatively speaking, but this was him at his best. facing his own goal, he turned past the first paris challenge and set off, all quick feet and alert body. two more opponents were shown a clean pair of heels and the crowd rose en masse. with neymar racing into space, ıniesta slid in a perfectly weighted pass which the brazilian took around salvatore sirigu and prodded in.
ıt was a feature of what became a vintage first-half performance from ıniesta, the midfield metronome dictating barcelona's beat. ıt was a measure both of his importance and of his team's position in the tie that he was withdrawn at the break: xavi hernández was not a bad replacement. by then it was 2-0 and all but over after the somewhat rarer sight of a left-footed daniel alves cross, headed in by neymar.
ıbrahimović could only dream of that kind of service, cutting an isolated figure at the other end. he got more company after the restart as barça relinquished their stranglehold, their relentless pressing. marco verratti ought to have done better with an opening early in the second period and there were 73 minutes on the clock when marc-andré ter stegen was finally called into action by ıbrahimović.
for paris there is always next year; barcelona, down to the last four and in fine fettle, are looking no further than the next six weeks.
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