There were half chances for both sides in the opening stages as the match got under way in lively fashion, with a disallowed Barca goal among the early talking points
Browsing: Barcelona
The hosts made a quick start to the match and could have been two goals to the good inside six minutes after Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema had both put decent openings over the top of the crossbar
Barcelona will face either Real Madrid or Juventus, who play their second leg on Wednesday, in the final of the tournament on June 6
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
City must now score at least twice when the two sides meet for the second leg at the Camp Nou next month
Having already matched Barcelona’s landmark streak of 18 during the 2005-06 season, Madrid knew that they needed to secure just one more win to surpass their arch-rivals
Barcelona initially said the signing of the 22-year-old player from Brazilian side, Santos, in May 2012 cost them £44.5 million
The Catalan giants had been given a stay of execution while the appeal process was heard, meaning they could spend over £100 million on new recruits this summer, including Luis Suarez
With initial projections suggesting Neymar could miss up to six weeks of action, the 22-year-old was considered a doubt for Barcelona’s La Liga opener against Elche on August 23
But due to the fact he is serving a four-month FIFA ban from all football-related activities after biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder at the World Cup, he could not be formally unveiled at the Nou Camp on Wednesday morning
The 27-year-old forward will lose as much as £3 million of his annual £10 million salary if he attempts to bite an opponent
The former Ajax man will sign a five-year deal worth a reported £170,000 a week and the deal will be part funded by Barcelona’s imminent sale of Chilean Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal
The deal is thought to be in the region of £27 million, with Blues boss Jose Mourinho looking to build a potential title winning squad for next season
The 44-year-old succeeded Pep Guardiola as Barca B coach and led them back to the second tier of Spanish football for the first time in 11 years in his second season
With Lars Bender insisting he will remain with Bayer Leverkusen next season, Arsenal have been alerted to Martinez’s possible availability and are believed to have enquired about him
For the first time since the rankings began a decade ago, two Spanish teams feature at the top of Forbes magazine’s run-down of football’s richest clubs
With the loss, Barca’s title hopes are now on life support as a win by Atlético Madrid on Sunday would leave the Blaugrana four points back, with just five games left to play
The visitors somehow managed to weather the remainder of the early storm and settle into their usual rhythm, driving Atlético back towards their own goal
David Villa and Andres Iniesta had chances, but substitute, Diego Ribas, stunned Camp Nou with a sensational strike to give Atletico Madrid the lead
Lionel Messi was the only Barcelona player who looked sharp, while his teammates were plagued by uncharacteristic passing errors and again proved brittle at the back