Brilliant Barca blitz Bayern

Barca's rampant strikeforce did the damage in a completely one-sided first half as the Catalans raced into a two-goal lead within 12 minutes as Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o struck early on.

And the locals' dominance brought two more goals before half-time, with Thierry Henry setting up Messi for his second seven minutes before the break and then slotting home a fourth himself just before the interval.

With Xavi and Andres Iniesta pulling the strings in midfield and Messi, Eto'o and Henry causing havoc up front, Pep Guardiola's side soon took control of the game.

Henry almost put the home side in front after six minutes, but the former Arsenal man saw his shot cleared off the line by Martin Demichelis. That was a warning for Bayern and three minutes later, Barca went in front.

The Catalans tore the visitors' defence apart with a flowing move and Eto'o set up Messi, who drilled a neat finish past Hans-Jorg Butt to open the floodgates.

And three minutes later, Messi returned the compliment as he slid a deadly ball into the path of Eto'o and the Cameroon striker clinically slotted past the helpless Butt.

Henry was a constant threat to the Bayern defence and he set up Barca's third seven minutes before the break as he beat his marker for pace on the left and flashed a low centre across the six-yard box for Messi to poke home.

And two minutes before the break, the Catalans scored again. Messi charged in from the right flank and laid the ball off to Eto'o, who in turn found Henry and the unmarked Frenchman slid a low angled drive into the bottom right-hand corner to virtually seal Barca's passage to the semi-final within just 45 minutes.

And their dominance continued after the interval with Messi denied by the woodwork just short of the hour-mark and Iniesta drilling an effort wide of the target with 12 minutes left.