Barcelona 4-0 Sevilla

Lionel Messi grabbed his 100th Barcelona goal as Pep Guardiola's side went some way to overcoming their Copa del Rey exit against Sevilla.

Sevilla keeper Andres Palop was the hero on Wednesday night as Barca failed to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the home leg and crashed out of the competition on the away-goals rule.

And Palop proved a thorn in Barca's side once again in this match, but the Catalans' superiority saw them through on the night and the win was resounding in the end.

They needed some help from the visitors, though, and it was Sevilla defender Julien Escude who gave Barca the lead, when he deflected Gerard Pique's shot into his own net shortly after the break.

Pedro's 14th goal of the season gave the league leaders a cushion with 20 minutes left and Lionel Messi wrapped up a comfortable win with two strikes late on as Guardiola's men moved five points clear at the top of the table.

That outcome was a possibility thanks to Real Madrid's surprise defeat at Athletic Bilbao directly before this match.

This was the teams' third meeting in the space of 12 days.

And although each side had won at each other's ground, it was Sevilla who advanced to the quarter-finals of the cup, meaning Guardiola's men had suffered their first disappointment since the former Barca captain took over from previous coach Frank Rijkaard.

Remarkably, under Guardiola, the team had won all six of the competitions they had competed in, but they were found wanting at the seventh time of asking by a quality Sevilla side.

Nevertheless, the Andalusians came into this match in poor form in the league, having lost their last three games.

Manolo Jimenez's side also had several key absences.

Frederic Kanoute and Didier Zokora are away at the African Cup of Nations, while Luis Fabiano is still injured and Sergio Sanchez is set to retire after it was detected that he has a heart condition.

Barca were also missing their African star, Seydou Keita of Mali, but Guardiola fielded a strong side for this match.

Messi began alongside Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the Catalans' traditional three-man forward line.

And the Sweden striker should have put the locals ahead after six minutes.

Henry latched on to Andres Iniesta's clever pass and squared for the former Inter Milan forward, but Ibrahimovic failed to hit the target with Palop already beaten.

The Sevilla keeper then came out well to deny Henry with his body as another chance went begging.

Alves also fired into the side netting before captain Carles Puyol twice threatened with his head.

The skipper's first effort went over the bar, while Palop was on hand to keep out the second with a good save.

Somehow, Sevilla negotiated the rest of the first half and the scores were level at the break.

But the second period was a different story.

Arouna Kone beat several Barca defenders and tested Victor Valdes with an angled drive.

After that, though, it was all Barcelona.

And the Catalans took the lead when Escude deflected Pique's shot past a helpless Palop after 50 minutes.

The Sevilla keeper denied Barca a second a minute later, when Messi skipped past several challenges and sent a venomous shot towards goal.

Palop then produced two more fine saves to deny Henry and Messi, but could do nothing to prevent Pedro from doubling Barca's lead after 70 minutes.

Xavi put the substitute through with a fine pass and the Tenerife-born forward chipped a brilliant lob over Palop to make Barca safe.

And there was still time for Messi to bag his 100th Barca goal with five minutes left and add a second in stoppage time with two simple finishes.