Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Paris St-Germain took a huge step towards the Champions League quarter-finals with a convincing last-16 first-leg win over 10-man Bayer Leverkusen, just as Lionel Messi broke Manchester City’s resillience to cruise pass the Manchester club on a 2-0 away goal at Etihad Stadium.
Blaise Matuidi slid the ball under goalkeeper Bernd Leno to give the visitors a third-minute lead.
Ibrahimovic then scored a penalty and fired into the top corner from 20 yards within three first-half minutes.
Yohan Cabaye sidefooted into the top corner after Emir Spahic saw red.
Ibrahimovic’s two goals see him move ahead of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo to become the tournament’s top scorer this season, with a personal best 10 Champions League goals.
Before Tuesday, the Sweden striker had appeared in 30 matches in the Champions League knockout stages but only scored five goals, and he has yet to win the competition despite spells with Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Ajax.
Here he was a crucial presence, however, and even without their injured £55m striker Edinson Cavani, PSG sent out a warning to the rest of Europe’s big teams with a masterful away performance. They go into the return leg at Parc des Princes on 12 March knowing no side has ever overturned a 4-0 deficit in the competition.
Laurent Blanc’s side have lost just once in the French league all season, in contrast to their hosts who, though still second in the Bundesliga, have lost five of their last seven league matches – and whose last foray into the Champions League knockout rounds was two years ago when they were beaten 10-2 on aggregate by Barcelona.
The visitors made a quick start in Germany as France midfielder Matuidi won the ball back inside Leverkusen’s half, before running on to Marco Verratti’s through-ball and firing home.
Paris St-Germain had 10 shots on target compared with Bayer Leverkusen’s two
After missing from close range, Ibrahimovic then doubled the lead from the penalty spot. Spahic needlessly pulled Ezequiel Lavezzi back off the ball and the Swede calmly converted from 12 yards.
And just before half-time, he scored his second. The striker, who has scored 19 goals in Ligue 1 this season, received the ball from Matuidi just outside the penalty area before brilliantly firing left-footed into the top corner.
Leverkusen’s frustrations only grew after the break when Lucas’s theatrical fall saw them reduced to 10 men as Spahic received his second yellow card of the evening for an innocuous push.
The visitors thought they had made it 4-0 when Matuidi’s shot was deflected into the net by Leverkusen defender Philipp Wollscheid only for the goal to be ruled out because Lavezzi was offside.
But the visitors got their fourth when substitute Cabaye converted from 18 yards for his first goal since signing from Newcastle.
On the other hand, Manchester City’s Champions League ambitions look all but extinguished after Lionel Messi and Dani Alves gave Barcelona victory in the last-16 first leg at Etihad Stadium.
Messi broke the deadlock from the spot in the 54th minute after he was fouled by City defender Martin Demichelis, who was also sent off for a challenge that was initially made outside the penalty area.
And despite a defiant response from Manuel Pellegrini’s side, Alves delivered what is surely the decisive blow when he exchanged passes with Neymar before sliding a cool finish under City keeper Joe Hart in the final minute.
City’s supporters applauded their side’s efforts at the final whistle but the subdued atmosphere around the ground moments later reflected the brutal reality that the task of recovering this tie is surely beyond them in the second leg at the Nou Camp.
This was not vintage Barcelona but they still carried enough threat to produce moments such as Andres Iniesta’s brilliant pass that led to the penalty and, without the presence of Sergio Aguero, City’s threat was limited.
Games such as this were what City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners had in mind when they bankrolled the club – and while they are moving closer to the elite group there is still, understandably, work to do.
Pellegrini learned the lessons of defeat by Bayern Munich in the group stage and opted for Alvaro Negredo as a single striker – but City had to remain patient in the face of Barcelona’s domination of possession early on.
City, however, were able to contain Barcelona, apart from a dangerous long-range effort from Xavi that Hart turned away.
The muscular Negredo was posing problems for Barcelona with his physical presence, while keeper Victor Valdes had to come through a crowd to save after David Silva’s free-kick sparked a scramble in the six-yard area.
City would have felt satisfied with that opening 45 minutes but they were undone nine minutes after the restart and left feeling a sense of injustice as Messi put Barcelona ahead from the spot.
They felt Sergio Busquets had fouled Jesus Navas, allowing Barcelona to develop a move that ended when Demichelis fouled Messi as he raced on to Iniesta’s pass.
Swedish official Jonas Eriksson pointed to the spot, even though City had a case that first contact was outside the area, then made matters worse by sending Demichelis off before Messi stroked in the penalty.
It led to an instant reshuffle by Pellegrini, who sent on Joleon Lescott and Samir Nasri for Navas and Aleksandar Kolarov in a bid to ensure there was no further damage as a result of City’s numerical disadvantage.
Barca, though, were enjoying the sudden change in circumstances and Alves should have hit the target when he found space in the area, only to shoot wide of the far post from an angle.
Both sides made changes with 17 minutes left, Edin Dzeko coming on for Negredo while Brazil superstar Neymar, returning from injury, replaced Alexis Sanchez for Barcelona.
City were still battling and Valdes was forced into a sharp save from Silva’s volley following fine approach work from Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta.
If City could have restricted Barcelona to a one-goal lead they would have travelled to the Nou Camp with some hope – but Alves has surely put the Catalans into the last eight.