Video: UEFA Champions League highlights - Barcelona victorious, PSG run riot

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring from a penalty kick during the UEFA Champions League Last 16, first leg football match between Manchester City and Barcelona

The first leg of the much anticipated UEFA Champions League knockout stages kicked off in style last night, with a standout fixture between heavyweights Manchester City and Barcelona. The other game saw French giants PSG travel to Germany to play Bayer Leverkusen.

Manchester City 0 – 2 Barcelona

Barcelona edged past the Premier League side in a well fought match up. The first half did not live up to expectation, however, the second half was a drastic difference. The Catalan giants broke the dead lock early into the second half in rather controversial circumstances. Lionel Messi latched onto a beautiful pass, and was clean through on goal before Martin Demichelis brought him down what looked like outside the penalty area, and conceded a penalty. The defender was sent off, and Lionel Messi comfortably dispatched the spot kick. The visitors took control of the game, and Dani Alves’s injury time goal gave the La Liga side an unassailable advantage going into the return leg in a couple of weeks time.

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Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 4 PSG

Very few gave the German outfit a chance against a star studded PSG side. As expected, the Ligue 1 team ran riot, courtesy Zlatan Ibrahimovic who grabbed a brace on the day, including a stunning strike from the edge of the box. A 5th minute early goal put the hosts on the back foot straight away, after which they could not recover. It’s safe to say, PSG already have one foot in the next stages of the league.