Barcelona have opened up a 3-1 lead in their Champions League quarter-final tie with victory against Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes this evening.
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The hosts could have opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes when Maxwell and Blaise Matuidi linked up, with the latter providing a cross for Javier Pastore but the Argentine could not stretch to turn it in.
Barcelona soon started to cause problems down the other end as Luis Suarez played the ball to Lionel Messi on the edge of the box, leaving the striker to curl it towards the goal, only to see his finish kept out by the post.
The Spanish side were ahead inside the opening 20 minutes though as Messi pounced on a loose ball before finding Neymar, leaving the Brazilian to fire home from close range.
PSG's hopes were dealt a further blow a few minutes later when captain Thiago Silva was forced off injured, leaving David Luiz, who is also carrying an injury, to take his place.
The French champions did threaten the equalise before the break as Matuidi charged forward, eventually finding Edinson Cavani, but his effort was blocked by Javier Mascherano.
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Salvatore Sirigu had to remain alert down the other end though as Suarez tried to double the visitors' lead before the interval, but his finish was straight at the keeper.
Pastore was quick out of the blocks again in the second half as he tried to catch out the keeper with a deflected effort from the edge of the box, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen was able to punch it away.
The young German continued to come under pressure between the posts as Andres Iniesta lost the ball in midfield shortly before being forced off with a knock, giving Adrien Rabiot a chance to level the scores, but his 20-yard effort could not beat the keeper.
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PSG continued to look for opportunities on the counter-attack, with Yohan Cabaye getting back to take the ball away from Neymar, while Cavani was unable to get a shot away after Pastore played the ball out from the back.
The visitors started to look the more likely again as the match headed into the final half-hour, and they added a second when Suarez outmuscled several defenders before chipping the ball past Sirigu, who got a hand to it but could not keep the strike out.
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Cavani came close again moments later as PSG tried to get a foothold in the tie, unleashing a powerful low strike, but Ter Stegen got across the goal to make a diving save.
Barcelona were soon on the offensive down the other end as Messi dodged a number of challenges on the edge of the box before blasting the ball just wide.
Luis Enrique's side did make it three moments later though as Suarez won the ball again, sprinting past the struggling Luiz before firing into the top corner, scoring his second in just over 10 minutes.
PSG did get a goal back before the end of the match as Gregory van der Wiel got forward to try a strike from the edge of the box, which took a deflection off Jeremy Mathieu to leave Ter Stegen stranded.
The sides will play again at Camp Nou next week, with PSG needing to score at least three goals to stand a chance of reaching the last four.
Sian Cowper
