Luis Suarez scored a brilliant brace as Barcelona delivered a vintage display in a dominant 3-1 victory against PSG in France to firmly grab the initiative in their Champions League quarter final.
Suarez stole the show with two stunning individual goals after Neymar had given the visitors a first-half lead, while Gregory van der Wiel grabbed a late consolation for the French champions.
The two sides had a win apiece in the group stages of the competition earlier this season, but there was a gulf in class established in the early stages as Barcelona settled the quicker.
Lionel Messi, looking to move ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time Champions League goalscoring charts, came within inches of an opener when his shot came back off the woodwork from 20 yards.
The Argentine didn’t dwell on his near-miss for long though, finding Neymar in space down the PSG right and the Brazilian forward finished with aplomb after just 18 minutes.
The hosts lost captain Thiago Silva to injury soon after with David Luiz replacing him, and squandered a great chance to level when Edinson Cavani attempted to find Javier Pastore instead of going alone.
Suarez silenced the home crowd 20 minutes into the second half, nutmegging Luiz and holding off Marquinhos before squeezing past Sirigu in a goal that was all his own work.
The Uruguayan then embarrassed Luiz again, repeating the nutmeg in a more central area before emphatically firing in his 11th strike in as many games to put the visitors out of sight
PSG were offered a slim lifeline when van der Wiel’s shot was inexplicably diverted into his own net by substitute Jeremy Mathieu but the Catalans will be firm favourites when they meet again next week at the Camp Nou.
Elsewhere, Porto combined tireless pressing and clinical finishing to stun Bayern Munich 3-1 at the Stadio do Dragao after a dreadful defensive display from the Bavarians.
Two goals from Richardo Quaresma and another from Jackson Martinez propelled the Portuguese side to victory but Thiago Alcantara’s first Champions League goal may give the German champions hope for the second leg.
Porto completely blew away the competition’s favourites in the opening stages, and Manuel Neuer was very fortunate to stay on the pitch for upending Martinez with the Colombian striker bearing down on goal after just two minutes.
Quaresma converted the spotkick and then capitalised on an error by Dante in Bayern’s defence to race clear and confidently guide past Neuer with the outside of his right foot to double Porto’s lead within ten blistering minutes.
A shell shocked Bayern looked to gain a foothold and found a crucial route back into the tie through Thiago’s improvised finish from Jerome Boateng’s deflected cross before the break.
Boateng turned villain in the second half by misjudging a long ball and Martinez applied a classy finish by rounding Neuer to restore the hosts’ two goal lead and set up an intriguing contest next week in Munich.
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