Lionel Messi scored his club-record 48th goal of the season Tuesday as Barcelona advanced to the Champions League semifinals with a clinical 1-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk, easily protecting its 5-1 advantage from the first leg.
Messi struck in the 43rd minute to send the Spanish champion through to a probable semifinal against archrival Real Madrid. Barcelona outclassed its Ukrainian opponent with its superior passing to hand the Ukrainian side its first home defeat in European competition in more than two years.
Shakhtar played its typical attacking football and had plenty of chances, calling Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes into action several times. But Barcelona never looked likely to give up its massive advantage from the first leg and always looked threatening on the counterattack.
