Lionel Messi started the comeback with two first-half goals, and Barcelona overwhelmed AC Milan 4-0 Tuesday night to reach its sixth straight Champions League quarterfinal and become the first team ever to advance after losing the first leg 2-0 on the road.
Messi scored in the fifth and 40th minutes, moving into sole possession of second on the Champions League career scoring list with 58 goals. David Villa put Barcelona ahead in the aggregate series in the 55th minute, and left back Jordi Alba sealed the win when he scored in the second minute of stoppage time.
AC Milan, a seven-time winner of Europe’s top club tournament, won the first leg in Italy on Feb. 20 and nearly got a valuable away goal in the 38th minute, but 18-year-old forward M’baye Niang hit a post with an open shot on a counterattack. If he had tied the game 1-1, Barcelona would have needed at least three more goals at that point to advance because away goals are a tiebreaker.
Messi, the four-time FIFA Player of the Year, passed Ruud van Nistelrooy (56) on the Champions League scoring list and trails only Raul Gonzalez (71). With his 18th multigoal game of the season, Messi increased his season goals total to 53.
In the other match, Galatasaray won 3-2 at Schalke to advance on 4-3 aggregate and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2001.
Real Madrid, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain also are in Friday’s draw. In the final second-round matches Wednesday, Arsenal tries to overturn a 3-1 deficit at Bayern Munich and Porto goes to Malaga with a 1-0 lead.
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