Barca bank on double own goals, Salah sinks City

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Luis Suarez finally ended his more than a year-long goal drought in the UEFA Champions League as Barcelona registered a thumping 4-1 victory over Roma. In their quarterfinal first leg tie at Camp Nou, Barca benefited from two own goals by their Italian rivals to win the match convincingly.

First, Roma Captain Daniele de Rossi slid into his own net in a bid to keep the ball away from Lionel Messi, and then Kostas Manolas bundled another in, with Gerard Pique tapping in Barcelona's third after Suarez's shot was parried. Edin Dzeko gave Roma hope after converting Diego Perotti's low cross, but Suarez then slammed one home from 14 yards to score his first Champions League goal after a year.

This was his first Champions League goal in 11 games even though the Uruguayan has scored 22 goals in 26 La Liga games this season. On the other hand, Messi, who had seven shots and three on target, failed to open his account for the first time in eight games.

Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta celebrate after AS Roma scored an own goal during the UEFA Champions League. /VCG Photo

The Catalan giants, who are strong favorites to clinch their first semifinal spot since 2014-15, when they won the tournament, will take on their Serie A rivals next Wednesday at the Stadio Olimpico.

City left red-faced at Anfield

Meanwhile, Liverpool scripted a spirited performance to take a firm grip on their Champions League quarterfinal after outclassing an erratic Manchester City 3-1 at Anfield.

A hapless City, whose only Premier League defeat this season has been a 4-3 loss at Anfield in January, conceded all the three goals in the first 31 minutes.

Reds goal-machine Mohamed Salah once again brought cheers to the partisan crowd at his home ground as he pounced in the area to score his 38th goal of the season after 12 minutes. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain soon doubled their lead when he unleashed a fierce shot past Ederson from 20 yards.

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first-leg match‍ /VCG Photo

A bamboozled City conceded their third goal just after the half-hour as Sadio Mane headed home from Salah's cross. Jurgen Klopp’s side held on to their three-goal burst for the remainder of the match to put themselves in a commanding position ahead of their return leg at Etihad Stadium next Tuesday.

However, there were unsavory incidents before kick-off when fans outside the ground attacked and damaged the Manchester City team coach on its way into the stadium, prompting an "unreserved" apology from the hosts and a probe from Merseyside Police.