Barcelona has taken a big step towards the semi-finals of the Champions League courtesy of a 4-1 win over Roma in the first leg of their quarter-final at Camp Nou.
Own goals from Daniele De Rossi and Kostas Manolas sent Barcelona on their way, before Gerard Pique scored a third for the home side just before the hour.
Roma managed to score an away goal in the 80th minute through Edin Dzeko, but Luis Suarez netted a fourth for Barcelona in the closing moments to leave the Italian side with a mountain to climb in the second leg next week.
Luis Suarez had the ball in the back of the Roma net in the seventh minute of the contest, but the striker’s effort was rightly ruled offside. Roma then had a decent shout for a penalty down the other end when Dzeko tumbled under a challenge from Semedo, although the referee remained unmoved.
Barcelona did make the breakthrough in the 38th minute, however, when Roma captain De Rossi poked the ball past his own goalkeeper in an attempt to prevent Messi from reaching a pass from Andres Iniesta.
Barcelona had their second of the match in the 55th minute, however, and it was another own goal from Roma as Manolas turned past Alisson under pressure from Umtiti, who had bundled a Rakitic cross against the post.
It went from bad to worse for the Italian side just before the hour when Pique slotted the ball into the back of the net after Alisson had saved a Luis Suarez strike straight into the path of the Barcelona centre-back.
The visitors did get their name on the scoresheet in the 80th minute, however, when Dzeko collected a low cross from Perotti before finding the bottom corner with a smart finish.
Barcelona were not finished though and scored a fourth in the 87th minute when Luis Suarez smashed the ball into the bottom corner following a low cross from Denis Suarez, which has left the Spanish giants on the brink of the semi-finals.