Barcelona defeated Bayern Munich 3-0 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night, setting up a difficult second leg for the Germans, who will have it all to do at home against the Catalans.

Lionel Messi was at the centre of the victory, scoring two superb goals and setting up a final strike for Brazilian team-mate Neymar to secure a comfortable win in front of their fans.

The first half ended goalless, with the best chance of the initial 45 minutes falling to Robert Lewandowski, with the Polish striker failing to convert an opportunity that he would usually bury, after an excellent low cross courtesy of Thomas Muller.

The Spanish side would wait until the 77th minute for the opener, with Messi providing a great pinpoint strike from outside the box to beat German keeper Manuel Neuer. He would beat Neuer for a second time a few minutes later, with sublime dribbling that saw Jerome Boateng lose his balance before an instinctive chip was expertly delivered by the Argentine.

Finally, to put the nail in the coffin for FC Hollywood, the Catalans saved a last goal for Neymar, with Messi making a wonderful pass to the Brazilian, who then sprinted to a one on one with the German number one, where he calmly finished to make it 3-0.

The result leaves Bayern with a great task to attempt in the second leg next week, but it would seem that Barca are the team destined to reach the UEFA Champions League final in Berlin at the beginning of June.