Lionel Messi once again rewrote history, this time becoming the youngest player to reach 50 goals in the Champions League. It came courtesy of two penalties as Barcelona edged past AC Milan at Camp Nou. The first penalty was awarded after ten minutes when Luca Antonini tripped Messi, the Argentinian made no mistake from the spot despite Christian Abbiati guessing the right way. Milan would level and get that sought after away goal on 32-minutes when Antonio Nocerino was put through on goal and smashed the ball past Victor Valdes. But Barcelona would regain the lead four minutes before half-time when Alessandro Nesta pulled Sergio Busquets to the ground from a corner. Again Messi stepped up and went the opposite way with the same outcome. Andres Iniesta sealed Barcelona's fifth consecutive semi-final place in the competition with their third just eight minutes after the restart.
Barcelona will meet Chelsea in the semi-finals after the English side squeezed past Benfica. Chelsea held a 1-0 lead going into the second leg and their advantage was soon doubled when Javi Garcia fouled Ashley Cole in the box, Frank Lampard stepped-up and converted the spot-kick on 21-minutes. Maxi Pereira received a yellow card for dissent when the penalty was awarded and he made Benfica's task even harder by receiving a second yellow five minutes before half-time. Javi Garcia made up his error by pulling a goal back five minutes from time but it was too little too late and Raul Meireles sealed the victory in injury time.
Bayern Munich made a short task of Marseille after carrying two away goals back to the Allianz Arena with them. Ivica Olic was chosen ahead of top scorer Mario Gomez and the little Croatian proved he was the right man for the job. He put Munich ahead after just 13-minutes to make it 3-0 on aggregate before adding a second eight minutes before half-time.
The German side will meet the other competitors from El Classico as they swept Cypriot minnows, Apoel, aside. Real Madrid had a 3-0 aggregate lead going into the second leg and Cristiano Ronaldo began the build the advantage on 26-minutes, Kaka then made it 2-0 ten minutes later. Gustavo Manduca now has a story to tell his grandchildren, as he scored at the Bernabeu on 67-minutes to give the Cypriot side some consolation. Ronaldo then made it 3-1 on 75-minutes before rising star, Jose Callejon, added a fourth five minutes later. Apoel managed to score a second goal when substitute Esteban Scolari netted from the spot with eight minutes remaining. But the last word came from Angel Di Maria who would make it 5-2, 8-2 on aggregate, two minutes after Apoel's penalty.
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