Messi magic gives Barca upper hand

Argentina's two-time world player of the year Lionel Messi scored a superb late brace as Barcelona gained the upper hand in their Champions League semifinal with a 2-0 first leg win over archrivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Real were down to ten men after Pepe had been sent off on the hour mark and Barca made the extra man count with Messi converting an Ibrahim Afellay cross on 76 minutes and then scored a mesmerising goal on 86 minutes for his 11th Champions League goal of the season.

"We are one step away from the final but we are not at Wembley yet," said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. "We respect Real Madrid a lot and we know they are capable of anything so we won't underestimate them."

Messi has now scored on each of his last four visits to the Bernabeu and the late goals are a huge setback for Real coach Jose Mourinho, who was sent to the stands for protesting the dismissal of Pepe.