UEFA Champions League | Barcelona 4 – Roma 1

Barcelona made a slow, sloppy start and were initially restricted to shots from distance, Messi's 25-yard drive stinging Alisson's palms before an Ivan Rakitic curler clipped the base of the right-hand post.

Manolas claimed before the match there is "no way" to stop Messi, but the centre-back continued to effectively restrict Barca's main man, although he was able to tee up Suarez for an effort Alisson saved well.

It was typical then that the latest in a series of desperate defensive challenges would undo Roma's hard work seven minutes before the break, De Rossi lunging to keep the ball from Messi and inadvertently firing a rocket beyond his own goalkeeper and into the bottom-right corner.

The visitors should have drawn level seconds after the restart when Alessandro Florenzi's deep centre from the right reached the far post, but Diego Perotti directed a straightforward header back across the face of goal and wide.

More misfortune did for Roma in the 55th minute, though. Manolas dived in front of Samuel Umtiti in the area - after Messi combined with Rakitic - but clumsily bundled the ball against his own post and over the line.

The third goal followed four minutes later when Pique charged forward and tapped into the net when Alisson parried from Suarez.

Roma rallied late on and looked to have salvaged some interest in the tie, Dzeko holding off Alba to slide Perotti's pass into the bottom-left corner.

Suarez's timely contribution followed, though, with Roma unable to scramble clear and the striker prodded a finish under Alisson to put Barca within sight of a semi-final spot.