Barcelona trounce Shakhtar Donetsk to set up potential Real Madrid semi-final

Barcelona trounce Shakhtar Donetsk to set up potential Real Madrid semi-final Anything Real Madrid can do Barcelona can do better.

Following Madrid's 4-0 victory over Tottenham on Tuesday, Barça also appear to have done all the hard work in their home quarter-final, even scoring one more than José Mourinho's side managed against Spurs, to set-up a likely semi-final against their fiercest rival. Pep Guardiola, the coach of the Spanish champions, spent the days leading up to this game telling anyone who would listen that Shakhtar Donetsk were dangerous opponents. Guardiola then sat back and watched his players treat the Ukrainian side like they were a Sunday league team. Andrés Iniesta, Daniel Alves, Gerard Piqué, Seydou Keita and Xavi Hernández scored for the 2009 Champions League winners, while Shakhtar's sole reply came when they were already 3-0 down. Guardiola admitted he had a bad feeling about this match, but his fears will have been eased after seeing his side take the lead after just 99 seconds through Iniesta, who slotted a low shot past visiting goalkeeper Andrei Pyatov at his near post after picking up a loose ball in the area. However, 10 minutes after that goal, Barça survived two huge scares in quick succession. The first opportunity saw Luiz Adriano beat stand-in centre-back Sergio Busquets to a through-ball but then fire wide with only Víctor Valdés to beat. Then, just moments later, a bad attempted back-pass from Alves forced Valdés to race out of his goal and, although he beat Luiz Adriano to the ball, his clearance went straight to Willian whose first-time shot from 30 yards out dropped just wide of an open net. An equaliser at that stage may well have altered the tone of the game but Barça survived and almost profited from some slack defending themselves in the 19th minute, as Messi robbed Mykola Ischenko of possession on the edge of the Shakhtar area but his attempted chip over Pyatov was saved by the goalkeeper. Barça, who also went close through a Messi free-kick and a David Villa shot, were celebrating a second goal soon after as Alves scored after latching onto an inch-perfect pass by Iniesta. Iniesta's lofted ball in towards the penalty spot might have been collected by Pyatov but, as the goalkeeper waited for the ball, Alves nipped in to steal possession before slotting into an empty goal. Sensing that the two-legged tie could effectively be wrapped up on home soil Barcelona wasted no time in trying to build on their advantage at the start of the second period. They had to wait just nine minutes before making it 3-0 through Piqué following a move that was straight off the training-ground. Xavi cut a low corner back towards the edge of the area to meet the run of Piqué whose first‑time shot took a deflection off Yaroslav Rakitskiy before beating the wrong-footed Pyatov. Shakhtar gave themselves a glimmer of hope after scoring an away goal in the 59th minute, with Rakitskiy making the decisive touch at the right end this time. Shakhtar's hope was short-lived however as Barça immediately went down the other end and restored their three-goal lead. Messi beat his man before rolling a pass across the edge of the area to the unmarked Keita, who slammed an unstoppable shot into the near top corner of the net. Barça all but killed the tie off by notching a fifth goal in the 86th minute when Xavi slotted in Alves's pass. PA