Messi 45 + 3, 71 (pen)       Busquets 53 (og)

                                                                                                                        Xavi 69

Outclassed Arsenal exited the Champions League in Barcelona after failing to muster a single effort, on or off-target.

But they were ahead on aggregate, thanks to Sergio Busquets’ own goal, when Robin Van Persie, fortunate only to be booked for pushing Barca’s Daniel Alves in the face in the first half, was dismissed after a harsh second booking for kicking the ball away.

Arsenal’s ten men were over-run and only avoided heavy defeat thanks to keeper Manuel Almunia, who replaced the injured Wojciech Szczesny early on.

Barcelona scored in first-half stoppage-time when Andres Iniesta picked up Cesc Fabregas’s misplaced back-heel and fed Lionel Messi who cleverly clipped the ball over Almunia before volleying home left-footed from close range.

Busquets headed Arsenal level from Samir Nasri’s 53^rd-minute corner. But Barca only needed 18 minutes with a man advantage to seal the tie.

Xavi applied a deflected right-foot finish to Iniesta’s superb run and David Villa’s pass on 69 minutes. And Messi wrong-footed Almunia from the spot two minutes later after Laurent Koscielny’s penalty-box foul on Pedro.

Almunia made half-a-dozen fine saves as Barcelona swarmed forward late on, although Nicklas Bendtner nearly converted Jack Wilshere’s 87^th-minute pass to steal an unlikely victory.