Champions League: Lionel Messi wins Barcelona & PSG plaudits

 Champions League: Lionel Messi came off the bench to kick-start a Barcelona fightback

Lionel Messi came off the bench to kick-start a Barcelona fightback as the four-time winners reached the Champions League semi-finals on away goals.

Javier Pastore's clipped finish put Paris St-Germain ahead for the first time in the tie, 3-2 on aggregate.

But Messi, who suffered a hamstring strain in the first leg, inspired Barca and was involved as Pedro hammered home from 15 yards.

Andres Iniesta almost added a second for the hosts after a sublime turn.

PSG manager Carlo Ancelotti ushered David Beckham off the bench in the closing stages, but the former England captain could not replicate Messi's impact on the game as the visitors struggled to force their way back onto the front foot. 

Messi came on after 62 minutes and helped set up Pedro's goal as Barca drew 1-1 to advance on away goals.

"It doesn't matter if he's a little bit injured he can change everything," said Barca's Gerard Pique of Messi, who strained a hamstring in the first leg.

PSG boss Carlo Ancelotti added that Messi was "always fantastic".

The Italian added: "We caused them problems but Messi gave his team confidence." 

Cesc Fabregas had started in the attacking role usually occupied by Messi, but his team struggled to break down a PSG side that took the lead in the tie through Javier Pastore's strike.

Messi's arrival off the bench, at the expense of the former Arsenal midfielder, signalled the start of Barcelona's fightback and his precise pass to David Villa led to the strike that ultimately put his side through.

"Messi is the best player in the world and he changed the game just by being on the pitch," Villa told television channel Canal Plus.

"We have to congratulate him for his show of commitment to the team and to football. It is thanks to him, and everyone else, that we have qualified,"

Goalscorer Pedro said: "Messi is a very important player and he put in a great effort after coming on.

"He was the catalyst; we changed after he came on and we have to thank him for that."

Pique believes that despite Messi's progression through the ranks of club's famed La Masia academy, Barcelona are fortune to have the four-time world player of the year.

Champions League: Borussia Dortmund beat Malaga

The Spanish side looked to be going through when Eliseu put them 2-1 up with eight minutes remaining, before Marco Reus equalised and then Felipe Santana broke Spanish hearts in a thrilling climax.

Malaga took the lead when Joaquin rolled the ball in after 25 minutes, before Robert Lewandowski levelled the scores before half time.

But the away goal saw Dortmund become increasingly desperate, and Malaga looked to have qualified for the last four until the hosts' willpower saw them home.

Following the goalless draw in the first leg, the German side had looked confident early in the match until going behind totally against the run of play, Isco knocking the ball down to Joaquin who rolled the ball past Roman Weidenfeller's left hand.

Dortmund were rocked on their heels, but gradually regrouped and levelled the scores five minutes before the break. Reus' superb back-heeled flick wrong-footed the Malaga defence, allowing Lewandowski to race in on goal and chip the ball over Malaga keeper Willy.

Joaquin could have put Malaga further ahead twice, either side of the break, taking advantage of sloppy defending but each time putting his headers too close to Weidenfeller.

The Dortmund keeper also punched away a rasping shot from Toulalan as the Spanish side, in the Champions League for the first time this season, pressed hard to make the semi-finals.

That looked to be on the cards when they stunned the typically noisy BVB Stadion with eight minutes to go. Isco and Baptista combined to allow Eliseu to tap the ball in from close range, although there was a hint of offside about the substitute's goal.

But the German side, favourites to go through before the tie, steeled themselves and then stunned their opponents with two goals in stoppage time.

Felipe Santana caused enough of a nuisance for the ball to arrive with Reus, who levelled the scores with a simple chance.

And with Malaga's away goals still counting against them, Dortmund threw everything into one last attack that paid off in style when Santana got to Julian Schieber's mis-hit shot inches from the line to win the tie.

Replays showed that the goal should have been flagged for offside, but it stood to give the much-fancied German side the chance of making their second Champions League fina

Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney: Went head to head in Manchester derby

The Manchester derby, goal of the weekend, and the relegation battles in both the Premier League and Championship are all on the new Podcast.

The trio get stuck straight into Monday night's Manchester derby, with Marshy saying the victory proves just how much City have underperformed this season and why Roberto Mancini must take a portion of the blame.

McDermott, meanwhile, is quick to defend Danny Welbeck and explains why, despite his lack of goals, he must remain one of the first names on Sir Alex Ferguson's teamsheet.
The race for the top four is also debated, but it is the battle to stay in the Premier League that really get the trio hot under the collar, while the Goal of the Weekend also gets discussed at length.

Mancini felt it was a deserved victory and claimed it was important his team gave a good account of themselves.
"We are happy because we played very well," he told Sky Sports. "This is the most important thing for us. We deserved to win."
But Sir Alex Ferguson saw it differently and claimed his United side were unfortunate not to get a result.
He told Sky Sports: "We were quite dangerous a few times on the counter-attack and we maybe could have done better, but in the second half I thought we were the better team and were unlucky to lose it."

Man Utd v Man City : Sir Alex Ferguson: Felt Manchester United were unlucky against Manchester City

Manchester City reduced Manchester United's lead at the top of the Premier League to 12 points.

Vincent Kompany and James Milner both hailed a 'massive' win over Manchester United, with the Manchester City skipper hoping the result will build momentum for next season.

Sergio Aguero's fine individual effort on 78 minutes earned City a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford which cut United's lead at the top of the table to 12 points with seven games left to play.

Though the Red Devils are still overwhelming favourites to wrap up a 20th title, Kompany wants City to finish this season positively to take momentum into the next campaign.

"Every game, we have to play to win," Kompany told Sky Sports 1. "I do believe that the way we finish this season is going to have an impact on next season.

"You're always going to start from the beginning and it's a good game to have under our belt to take into next season."

Milner, who opened the scoring early in the second half, also wants City to build momentum, with Roberto Mancini's side facing Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday.

Milner: We deserved the win

The midfielder added: "Regardless of where you are in the table, the derby is a derby and to beat your rivals is massively important. We came here, we worked hard and got the win.

"We've got good momentum going into the weekend."

Kompany was unfortunate to concede an own goal which drew United level and the City captain feels the reigning champions deserved to take the points.

Chelsea 3-1 Rubin Kazan : Fernando Torres scored twice

There had been the familiar murmurings of discontent from a minority of those in the stands when Fernando Torres' name was announced prior to kick-off here, though by the end Chelsea were delighted to have him. The Spaniard has enjoyed so few outings like this since his British record move from Merseyside but, with his face masked as if he had come incognito, Rubin Kazan found him unrecognisable from the player who has spluttered so often over the last two years. His team have a two-goal lead to take to Moscow, and Torres has a brace to savour.

How he must crave confronting opponents this defensively frail every week. The 29-year-old terrorised a brittle back-line here, all slippery movement across the turf to unsettle the full-backs and even upper body strength as he turned centre-halves. His scruffy, predatory opening goal had raised his confidence, his touch more assured in the exchanges that ensued. He purred at times, sprinting at a hapless Vitali Kaleshin, as he revelled in Rubin's shortcomings. The headed reward midway through the second period from Juan Mata's typically delicious delivery has given Chelsea breathing space.

Torres swelled his season's tally to 18 goals as Chelsea secured a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge ahead of next Thursday's return in Moscow. The 29-year-old will start that game at the Luzhniki stadium with Demba Ba cup-tied in the Europa League, meaning the Senegalese – a scorer against Manchester United this week – is expected to return to the starting line-up against Sunderland at the weekend as Benítez continues to rotate his squad.

"We always talk about strikers having to score goals so their confidence is there, and you could see that with Fernando," said Benítez. "From the beginning I had no doubts with his work rate or movement but you could see his touch of the ball was much better after the first goal because of the confidence he had.

"He has 18 goals now, so maybe he doesn't [get enough credit]. People were saying he hadn't scored goals but now I'm sure he will score more.

"Physically he is fine. He will play well and score goals until the end of the season. But we have to think about our options. The problem we have is that Demba Ba can't play in the Europa League, so we have to manage both. Demba scored the other day too, so it will be a tough decision [on Sunday]. But whatever happens, Torres's work rate was really good today. It was only ever a question of time. He scored twice, has the confidence now, and hopefully he will carry that into the games to come."

Gareth Bale Injury: Andre Villas-Boas hopes Gareth Bale's ankle injury is not bad

Bale had to be stretchered off towards the end of Tottenham's 2-2 Europa League draw with Basle at White Hart Lane and Spurs fans feared his superb campaign might be set to end prematurely.

But Villas-Boas said: "He rolled on his ankle and, at the moment, there is a lot of pain, but hopefully it is not as bad as it could have been.

"We still need to get assessment that we can only have on Friday."

Bale picked up the injury in stoppage time towards the end of a thrilling tie, going over on his ankle when he challenged for the ball and staying down, clearly in great pain, before being carried off.

Photos of the injury showed Bale's foot bent almost at right angles to his leg but Villas-Boas added: "It shouldn't be as bad as it looks, because Gareth has torn that ligament before and there's nothing to tear now.

"There is lots of swelling and the pain is obviously very, very big, but we hope to assess him tomorrow.

"There is a big, big possibility that, if we stay positive, he will be fit for the Man City game (on 21 April) and it will only take him out of two games.

"We've played without Bale before and we've got the results that we needed, results that have put us in the position we are in the league.

"We recognise the form the player is in and the squad will step up a level for his absence. Key players are always missed by any team but we have played without him before."

Gareth Bale's ankle injury

They also lost Aaron Lennon to a first-half injury and William Gallas had to go off towards the end, while Jermain Defoe missed the match with a muscular problem that is set to keep him out for two more games.

Fitness concerns aside, manager Andre Villas-Boas will be pleased with the manner in which his team fought back from two down.

Basel reached last season's Champions League knockout stage at Manchester United's expense and it was easy to see why as a line-up combining youth and experience utilised their slick brand of passing football to hit Tottenham with a series of counter-attacks.

Fabian Schar was first to test Brad Friedel with a stinging drive and Marco Streller was also denied by the Spurs keeper.