Barcelona thrash Stuttgart in Champions League

Lionel Messi scored twice to lead defending champions Barcelona to a 4-0 victory over Stuttgart and into the Champions League quarter-finals.

Barcelona won 5-1 on aggregate to ensure Spain has one team in the last eight with Real Madrid and Sevilla having been knocked out.

Messi put the defending Spanish champions ahead in the 13th minute at the Camp Nou with a rising shot that beat goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

The Argentinian forward then found the net with a low shot in the 60th for his 31st goal in all competitions this season.

Pedro Rodriguez scored from Yaya Toure's centralising pass in the 22nd, and substitute Bojan Krkic scored from a breakaway in the 89th minute.

- AP