Barcelona 4 Bayern Munich 0: Can we play you every week?

Chelsea may have been swaggering around Anfield after their impressive victory but the result here will pull them up by their bootstraps.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was spot on when he asserted that Barcelona were the team he feared most in the competition.

While United disappointed at Old Trafford against Porto and now will need to be at their best to win in Portugal, Barca played Bayern off the park.

Barcelona will have their Champions League rivals quaking after an awesome display of first-half attacking football led by the dazzling Lionel Messi.

The mercurial Messi was living up to claims that he is the best player in the world this season as he led Barca’s starstudded forward line alongside Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o, scoring twice and setting up the other two as they ripped open Bayern’s injury-ravaged defence at the Nou Camp and moved into a commanding position in the quarter-final tie.

Under-pressure Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann, without his first-choice centre halves and Hans Butt in goal instead of Michael Rensing after he conceded five in their thrashing by Wolfsburg last weekend, saw his worst fears realised and his days could be numbered.

The signs were ominous from the start, though, as Henry saw the ball cleared off the line, having rounded the keeper after just five minutes.

The Bayern backline were not given a breather as Barca pressed forward in waves and Messi made the breakthrough, scoring his seventh goal in this year’s Champions League by slipping the ball into the corner.

Messi set up Eto’o for the second on a night when everything paid off for the home side.

Despite two early goals, the 98,000 capacity crowd were still eager for more and their full wrath descended on referee Howard Webb when Messi was booked for going down easily in the box. The emotion of the night also seemed to get the better of coach Pep Guardiola, who took his protests too far and was sent from the dug-out.

At the double: Lionel Messi celebrates his two goals

Messi couldn’t be tamed by the German defence and he got on the scoresheet again after 38 minutes, sliding home an Henry cross from in front of goal.

Henry, back to his Arsenal best this season, was more than a worthy accomplice for Messi, and got his landmark 50th Champions League goal shortly before half-time following a fine Messi dribble.

Having clearly been told to take their foot off the pedal at half-time, Barca went into cruise control but Bayern continued to struggle to get a touch.

Even having lowered the tempo, though, Messi was still a threat and, looking for his hat-trick, he drifted in from the right wing, went past a couple of challenges but saw his shot parried on to the bar by the keeper.

If the match was billed as Messi versus Franck Ribery, then there was only one winner, although the Frenchman will rightly claim he had a lack of support as Bayern found themselves chasing shadows.

The only real danger for the Barca defence came when Ribery slipped through a ball for Ze Roberto in front of goal, but the Brazilian was unable to take it in his stride.

After the game Barcelona’s former United defender Gerard Pique admitted the size of the victory was unexpected. ‘We were obviously confident before the game because we were playing well, but the way it turned out tonight was a surprise,’ he said.

‘Everything turned out right for us in the first half, Messi was fantastic and we got the perfect start. In the second half the rhythm dropped a bit, but we did what we had to before then and it was a great result.’

BARCELONA (4-3-3): Valdes; Alves, Marquez, Pique, Puyol; Xavi, Toure (Busquets 81), Iniesta; Messi, Eto’o (Krkic 89), Henry (Keita 74).

BAYERN MUNICH (4-5-1): Butt; Oddo, Demichelis, Breno, Lell; Altintop (Ottl 46), Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel, Ze Roberto (Sosa 77), Ribery; Toni.

Man of the match: Lionel Messi.