Barcelona seized control of their Champions League quarterfinal against Shakhtar Donetsk when an early Andres Iniesta strike paved the way for a 5-1 first-leg victory at Camp Nou on Wednesday.
The Spain midfielder punished a defensive error by the Ukrainian side in the second minute when he picked up a loose ball and burst through to finish low inside the near post.
Brazil fullback Daniel Alves raced through unmarked to Iniesta's curled pass to double the home side's lead in the 34th minute and centre half Gerard Pique made it 3-0 eight minutes after halftime with a deflected shot from a corner.
Yaroslav Rakitskiy briefly checked Barca's domination in the 59th minute when he flicked the ball past Victor Valdes but Seydou Keita smashed the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area a minute later.
Xavi tapped in the fifth after 86 minutes to make what had looked a potentially tricky second leg in Donetsk appear a formality as a semi-final between 2009 champions FC Barcelona and arch rivals Real Madrid looms. Real also have one foot in the semis after a 4-0 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Shakhtar, the 2009 Europa League winners, briefly threatened the Barcelona goal after falling behind but were fortunate in the end not to suffer a greater margin of defeat as the hosts rained in shots at their goals.
{{/usCountry}}Shakhtar, the 2009 Europa League winners, briefly threatened the Barcelona goal after falling behind but were fortunate in the end not to suffer a greater margin of defeat as the hosts rained in shots at their goals.
{{/usCountry}}Luiz Adriano, who also hit the post late on, sped through on goal in the 12th minute but sent a weak shot wide and Willian narrowly missed the target a minute later with a long-range effort when Valdes was caught off his line.
However, they proved incapable of stemming the tide flowing in the other direction as Barca delivered another masterclass of attacking football which did not even require a goal contribution from Argentine goal-machine Lionel Messi.