Barcelona have one foot in the semi finals of the Champions league after Shakhtar were hammered 5-1 at the Nou Camp.

Barcelona

Victor Valdes - 7
Valdes was called into action early in the first half after a series of promising moves from the visitors. Even came off his line to bail his defenders out of trouble after Adriano raced past them with ease.

Dani Alves - 7.5
Looked lethal going forward but neglected his primary duties as a defender, making a couple of grave mistakes at the back. Despite all these, his 34th minute goal was brilliantly taken and even managed to pick out Xavi in the last few minutes of the tie.

Gerard Pique - 6
A little shaky at the back and was not punished for letting Adriano past him on more than one occasion. Nice finish for Barcelona's third goal though.

Sergio Busquets - 7.5
Replacing the absent Puyol in the heart of the Barcelona defence once again. The Shakhtar forwards capitalized on his lack of pace repeatedly during the course of the game but he read the game well, making him one of the best defensive players for club and country.

Adriano (77' off) - 6
Was called upon to cover for his defenders on a few occasions and dealt with the threat of Costa well.

Seydou Keita - 6
Was rather anonymous in the game till that sensational top corner strike for Barcelona's fourth goal.

Javier Mascherano - 7
Was fully focused on his job in front of the back four, tracking all the runners from midfield.

Xavi - 7
Xavi got the final goal after a series of passing and patient build up. It is difficult to pick out a flaw in his performance in the game.

Andres Iniesta (90' off) - 9
Scored just under two minutes after the ball pinballed nicely to his feet just in front of the keeper. He then set up Alves for Barcelona's second goal with a superb diagonal ball, but picked up a needless booking later which leaves his out of the return leg.

Lionel Messi - 8
Kept the Shakhtar defence busy with his movement and creativity with the ball. Messi was unfortunate not to be rewarded with a goal in this game.

David Villa (70' off) - 5
Had a surprisingly quiet game and barely got involved in the fluid Barcelona movement.

Substitutions

Pedro (70' on) - 6
Looked lively in the short time he was on and unselfishly passed the ball to Messi for a tap in, but was flagged for offside.

Maxwell (77' on)
N/A

Ibrahim Afellay (90' on)
N/A

Shakhtar

Andriy Pyatov - 6.5
Had a busy night and must improve on his communication with his defenders in the second leg. Didn't stand a chance in almost half of the goals he let in.

Yaroslav Rakitskiy - 8
Assured defending from this man, robbing the ball off the Barcelona forwards on numerous occasions . He had the last touch for the Pique goal but made up for it at the other end with a little

Mykola Ischenko - 5
Looked like he lacked match practice and was probably the weakest link in the Shakhtar defence.

Razvan Dinca Rat - 5.5
Was constantly pressured by Alves and was absolutely clueless on how to keep him out.

Darijo Srna - 5
Unlike the previous games in this competition, he could not get forward as much as he wanted as the Barcelona players pressed the visitors deep in their own half.

Tomas Hubschmann - 5
Picked up the loose balls from midfield and tried his best to eliminate the threat from midfield.

Henrik Mkhitaryan - 4
Was not afraid to strike the ball from distance early on, but fizzled away as the game went on as the Barcelona players ran circles around him.

Willian (75' off) - 7
Skipped past Alves like he wasn't there and we almost saw a repeat of a Dejan Stankovic goal against Schalke from distance, but couldn't keep his effort on target.

Douglas Costa - 6
Used his pace to get behind the Barcelona defence very well, but technically not gifted and was guilty of dwelling on the ball for too long at times.

Jadson (70' off) - 5.5
Posses great pace and linked up well with his team-mates, but they failed to make their chances pay and was chasing shadows later on.

Luiz Adriano - 7
Always finding gaps between the Barcelona centre-backs, Adriano was giving them problems with his direct running. Had a one on one opportunity with Valdes and had a shot cannon off the posts but ended up empty handed for the night. Unbelievable.

Substitutions

Fernandinho (70' off)
N/A

Alex Teixeira (75' on)
N/A