Lionel Messi was required off the bench for Barcelona to progress through on away goals in Camp Nou after falling behind against PSG. Bayern Munich complete the semi-final line-up after beating Juventus 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate.
Without Messi, Barcelona didn't as much of a threat up front despite Xavi almost curling a free-kick in to the net in the opening minutes of the contest. Victor Valdes hands were warmed up by a shot from Ezequiel Lavezzi shortly after, but neither keeper was troubled in the early going.
Lucas Moura was the next to sting the hands of Valdes just before the quarter of an hour mark as both sides began creating chances. Pedro went close for Barca after his initial low cross was palmed back to him, but the Spaniard's second effort only found the side netting.
Just before the half hour mark, Moura again forced a good save from Valdes, seeing his header get pushed over the bar. Salvatore Sirigu continued to be the less worked keeper as David Villa and company failed to find the target. Adriano was given a yellow card for fouling Lucas three minutes before half-time which now rules him out of the semi-final first leg. The first half slightly petered out with many fewer goalscoring opportunities than many predicted.
Cesc Fabregas continued to be wasteful from long range at the beginning of the second half but the match was brought in to life just five minutes after the restart; Javier Pastore and Zlatan Ibrahimovic combined together before the Argentine was put through to score past Valdes, giving PSG an away goal but more importantly the lead.
The goal forced the seemingly non-100% Messi off the bench to warm up and stretch the damaged hamstring. PSG should have taken a 2-0 lead when Ibrahimovic and Pastore again linked up, but this time Pastore scuffed his shot and splayed it wide.
Messi was finally brought in to the fray on 63-minutes. But it was Andres Iniesta who tested Sirigu first on 65-minutes after playing a neat one-two with David Villa. The equaliser came on 71-minutes and Messi was at the heart of it; splitting PSG open with a pass to Villa. Villa then laid the ball back to Pedro to fire home. PSG didn't really create another chance which would have put them through. The goal actually lifted Barcelona who were a totally different side with Messi at the helm. Barca stayed in control for the remainder and progress via the away goal rule, which means an El Clasico final at Wembley is still on.
There's also a potential clash between the two top German sides with Borussia Dortmund and now Bayern Munich are also in the semi-finals. Last year's runners-up managed to progress without conceding a goal against Juventus over the 180-minutes. The Italians did start the better in front of their home fans without really forcing Manuel Neuer in to action.
Like Adriano, Bayern quickly learnt that Mario Mandzukic would miss the first leg of the semi-final after clashing with Giorgio Chiellini, although it did look as though no contact was made and the Germans may be right to feel aggrieved. Andrea Pirlo tested Neuer with a stunning free-kick, but the keeper managed to punch the ball over the bar. From there, neither keeper was troubled in any way, shape or form and the first half came to a nonchalant end.
Bayern gained more possession in the second half but both keepers were still enjoying a cup of tea on the pitch, occasionally taking the odd goal kick or picking the up a rolling ball. Gianluigi Buffon's real piece of the action finally came on 64-minutes when he had to pick the ball out of the net as Juventus all but kissed goodbye to a place in the semi-finals; Javi Martinez managed to get a leg to a good cross and Buffon couldn't hold on to it, Mandzukic gleefully rolled the ball home to make up for missing out on the first leg.
Thomas Muller came close to immediately making it 2-0, but his effort Arjen Robben's ball was blazed over the bar. The goal definitely deflated Juventus and the game once again slowly reached its climax. But icing on the cake came in the first minute of injury time after Bastian Schweinsteiger's great turn fed Claudio Pizarro to score past Buffon.
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