Updated on
Summary
Lionel Messi scored four goals, getting a hat trick in a 22-minute span of the first half, to carry defending champion Barcelona over Arsenal 4-1 Tuesday night and into the European Champions League semifinals. Barcelona won the home-and-home, total-goals series on 6-3 aggregate and will play Inter Milan in the semifinals starting April 20 in Italy. The second leg is in Spain eight days later for a berth in the final on May 22 in Madrid. Nicklas Bendtner, whose injury-time goal gave Arsenal a Premier League victory over Wolverhampton last weekend, put the Gunners ahead in the 18th minute. Messi, the reigning FIFA player of the year, then took over, scoring in the 21st, 37th and 42nd minutes for a 3-1 lead. He got his 39th goal of the season in the 88th minute after Manuel Almunia stopped his initial shot. Messi swept the rebound through the goalkeeper's legs. Messi matched Rivaldo as Barcelona's career scoring leader in the competition with 25 goals. With eight goals, Messi moved one ahead of Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo for this season's Champions League scoring lead and became the first player to score four goals in a two-legged series in the competition. Bendtner tied Manchester United's Wayne Rooney for third with five goals each. Earlier Tuesday, Inter beat CSKA Moscow 1-0 on Wesley Sneijder's sixth-minute goal to advance to the semifinals for the first time in seven years. The Italian champions won on 2-0 aggregate. CSKA's Chidi Odiah was ejected in the 49th minute, getting his second yellow card for a tackle of Samuel Eto'o. Odiah entered in the 14th minute for defender Vasiliy Berezutsky, who strained his hip in Monday's practice, and Odiah received a yellow card for fouling Sneijder late in the first half. In Inter's last trip to the semifinals, it was eliminated by city rival AC Milan. Inter is seeking its first European championship since consecutive titles in 1964-65. On Wednesday, Manchester United is home trying to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Bayern Munich and Lyon takes a 3-1 advantage to Bordeaux in an all-French quarterfinal. The last time at least one English team didn't reach the semifinals was 2003.
