Fans of the UEFA Champions League were treated to plenty of goals and spectacle on Wednesday, with two of the finest quarter-final first legs you’ll ever see. Barcelona underlined their title credentials with a huge 3-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain, while Porto shocked Bayern Munich by the same score.

The Catalans were always favoured in a tie against PSG, who entered the match without a number of key players and lost captain Thiago Silva to injury in the first half. According to Goal’s Kris Voakes, it marked the end of the contest as an exciting one:

To their credit, Les Parisiens didn’t lean back and actually created a number of good chances against the in-form Blaugrana, but Edinson Cavani forgot his shooting boots on his way to the stadium.

In contrast, Barcelona’s top attacking trio once again stole the show, with Lionel Messi assisting Neymar for the opening goal and Luis Suarez twice finding the back of the net.

He also managed to nutmeg David Luiz on both occasions, leading to plenty of hilarity on social media, via Bleacher Report UK:

Gregory van der Wiel managed to pull one back for the hosts, his shot taking a wicked deflection off Jeremy Mathieu, but the lone goal likely won’t do the French champions much good.

Barcelona will return home with three away goals, meaning PSG will have to beat the Catalans at the Camp Nou by a margin of three themselves. And given the current form of both squads, that seems all but impossible. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Johnson said what just about everyone was thinking after Suarez’s second:

He also noted PSG’s impressive unbeaten home streak in European competition had come to an end:

As shared by Barcastuff, scorer Suarez was full of praise of the effort of his side:

Barcelona’s big win at the Parc des Princes wasn’t a big surprise, but the same can’t be said for Porto’s 3-1 triumph over favourites Bayern Munich. The hosts dominated the Bavarians from start to finish and will now travel to the Allianz Arena with a real shot at qualifying.

Ricardo Quaresma opened the scoring after just three minutes, after Manuel Neuer pulled down Jackson Martinez inside the box. The decision was a controversial one—some fans couldn’t believe Neuer didn’t see the red card, while others, including Jan Aage Fjortoft, thought it wasn’t a penalty to begin with:

The Bavarian defence was caught napping for the first goal, with Xabi Alonso all but handing the ball to Martinez on a silver platter. Minutes later, Dante did the same for Quaresma, who doubled his tally and gave the hosts an unlikely 2-0 lead.

Quaresma is widely known as one of the biggest busts in recent football history, failing with Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea, and Bleacher Report’s Andy Brassell patted himself on the back for picking him to shine on Wednesday:

Thiago Alcantara pulled one back for Bayern before half-time, and with possession now firmly in the hands of the visitors, it looked as if Pep Guardiola’s men would restore order in the second half.

That never happened, however, as Porto easily held off the German attacks and found the back of the net once more, with Martinez rounding Neuer. Full-backs Danilo and Alex Sandro both picked up bookings that will force them to miss the return leg.

The loss of Danilo and Sandro could prove vital for Porto, who fully deserved the win on Wednesday but also took advantage of a bad night for Bayern. The visitors simply lacked all creativity, and it’s unlikely they’ll be equally bad at home.

 

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