Messi, Sneijder Lead Barca and Inter to the Champions League Semifinals

In the first day of the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals we have seen two great matchups come to a close as Inter Milan and Barcelona have each moved a step closer to the Champions League final as they beat CSKA Moscow and Arsenal respectively to move on.

For Inter, they were able to dispatch CSKA Moscow by a 1-0 score in the Luzhniki Stadium to move onto the Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2003.

And Barcelona were able to ride Lionel Messi to a four goal performance at the Camp Nou to move onto the semifinals for the third consecutive season at the expense of Arsenal by a 4-1 score.

Here is a recap of both of the matches.

CSKA Moscow v Inter Milan

First Leg: Inter Milan 1 CSKA Moscow 0

Second Leg: CSKA Moscow 0 Inter Milan 1

Inter Milan advance 2-0 on aggregate

After a 1-0 win at the San Siro during the first leg, Inter were able to advance over CSKA Moscow by a 1-0 score at the Luzhniki Stadium to advance onto the semifinals for the first time since 2003.

Early on, Inter were able to get a goal from Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder on a low free kick to get the only goal of the match, as Inter were able to dispatch a CSKA Moscow side that did not look right without having Yevgeny Aldonin and Milos Krasic due to suspension.

And things went from bad to worse for the Russians in the 49th minute, as Nigerian defender Chidi Odiah got red carded for a late tackle on Samuel Eto'o, which was Odiah's second yellow card and got sent off.

After that, it was next to impossible for CSKA Moscow to go through, and that is exactly what happened as Inter are onto the semifinals.

FC Barcelona v Arsenal

First Leg: Arsenal 2 Barcelona 2

Second Leg: Barcelona 4 Arsenal 1

Barcelona advance 6-3 on aggregate

In the other Champions League fixture of the night, Arsenal traveled to the Camp Nou to take on Barcelona in a match that had many key players from both sides (namely Andrei Arshavin and Cesc Fabregas for Arsenal and Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique for Barcelona).

Early on, Arsenal were able to continue to ride their great ending to the first leg in London as Nicklas Bendtner was able to score after a great set-up by Theo Walcott to give Arsenal not only the lead in the match, but also the lead on aggregate.

But just two minutes later, Lionel Messi took over the show, as he was able to beat Mikael Silvestre and deposit the ball past Manuel Almunia to tie the match at one, and give Barcelona the lead again on aggregate.

And the theme for Barcelona did not change for the rest of the half, as Messi was able to easily slip another shot past Almunia in the 37th minute before delicately chipping one over Almunia five minutes later to give Messi a first half hat trick as the half ended with Barcelona up 3-1.

During the second half, Arsenal decided to attack more than they did in the first half, but they were never able to get a good enough shot past Victor Valdes.

And just two minutes from time, Messi was able to continue his magnificent form as he was able to score again on a rebound to give the Argentine star a four goal night and booked Barcelona their spot in the semifinals with a 4-1 win.

Finally, these two great matches have helped us narrow down the Champions League again as Inter and Barcelona will now face off with each other at the end of the month as one of these two sides will be heading to the Champions League final at the Bernabeu on May 22.