Barcelona advance to round of 16 in Champions league

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - Barcelona defeated Borussia Dortmund Wednesday to book a spot in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

A goal from close range by forward Aleksei Luis Suarez gave the hosts the lead 29 minutes into the match.

Four minutes later, the Argentine superstar Lionel Messi doubled the lead against Borussia Dortmund to give Barcelona a comfortable lead at the half.

After the break, French forward Antoine Griezmann came off the bench and found the net in the 67 minute.

English forward Jadon Sancho scored the only goal for the German team.

- Messi makes 700th appearances for Barcelona

Messi celebrated his 700th appearance for Barca, helping his team with a goal and two assists Tuesday.

With this outstanding performance, Messi netted his 613th goal against Borussia Dortmund, while he produced 250th assists in 700 matches for the Spanish giants.

Messi, 32, also scored against 34 different teams in competition.

In another Group F match, Inter defeated Slavia Prague 3-1 in an away game.

Following Wednesday's results, Leipzig secured a spot in the knockout stages for the first time in its history with a 2-2 draw against Benfica.

- Group F:

The results are as follows:

Group E:

Liverpool (England) - Napoli (Italy) : 1-1

Genk (Belgium) - Salzburg (Austria) : 1-4

Group F:

Barcelona (Spain) - Borussia Dortmund (Germany): 3-1

Slavia Prague (Czechia) - Inter (Italy) : 1-3

Group G:

Leipzig (Germany) - Benfica (Portugal) : 2-2

Zenit (Russia) - Olympique Lyon (France): 2-0

Group H:

Valencia (Spain) - Chelsea (England) : 2-2

Lille (France) - Ajax (Netherlands) : 0-2