Lionel Messi's late brace secured a seemingly decisive first-leg advantage for Barcelona as the defending champions beat Arsenal 2-0 in an absorbing Champions League last-16 clash.
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Messi and his forward colleagues Neymar and Luis Suarez headed to Emirates Stadium with 91 goals between them this season, but were initially starved of opportunities by an Arsenal side playing with impressive discipline and intensity.
Suarez headed wastefully wide in the final minute of the first half, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scuffed arguably the clearest chance of the opening 45 minutes for Arsene Wenger's men.
Buoyed by an eye-catching spell before half-time, Barca dominated with menace after the break, although they survived a scare when Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved superbly from Olivier Giroud.
Heeding that warning, Luis Enrique's men upped their level and Messi beat former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech for the first time in seven matches after 71 minutes.
Suarez then struck the post before Messi won and converted an 83rd-minute penalty to leave Arsenal with the steepest of uphill tasks in the Camp Nou return.
Paulo Dybala and Stefano Sturaro both scored their maiden Champions League goals as Juventus recovered from a 2-0 deficit to secure a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in a see-saw first leg of their last-16 tie.
The visitors looked to be coasting to a fourth straight win over their Italian opponents when they went two goals up, Thomas Muller getting the first of them on 43 minutes when converting a cutback from Douglas Costa.
A curling strike from Arjen Robben 10 minutes after the break was no more than Bayern deserved for their dominance.
Yet Juventus produced a dramatic recovery in the final half-hour, starting with Dybala halving the deficit with a cool finish following a defensive mistake by the German side.
The comeback was complete when substitute Sturaro scored just seven minutes after coming on, the midfielder turning home fellow replacement Alvaro Morata’s header across the face of goal.
