Hamburg  - Barcelona handed out a 4-0 drubbing to Bayern Munich in their quarter-final first-leg Champions League clash Wednesday while Chelsea came from behind to stun Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield.

Lionel Messi netted a brace for the Spanish league leaders while Branislav Ivanovic also scored twice for Chelsea to leave both sides in a strong position ahead of next week's second-leg ties.

Barcelona struck twice in the first 15 minutes against Bayern at the Camp Nou as the German champions once again paid the price for their defensive frailties.

Barcelona  - Barcelona have one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League after thrashing Bayern Munich 4-0 on Wednesday in a one-sided quarter-final first leg.

Barca turned in the performance of the European season to put brittle Bayern to the sword, thus confirming their candidacy for the continental crown.

Jurgen Klinsmann's side carried on from where they left off in Wolfsburg on Saturday, where they lost 5-1 - feeble in defence and swamped in midfield.

Liverpool - Chelsea have one foot in the last four of the Champions League after they stunned Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield on Wednesday.

Fernando Torres put Liverpool ahead after just six minutes but Chelsea were the better side after that and two goals from defender Branislav Ivanovic and one from Didier Drogba completed a well-earned victory.

Five-time champions Liverpool will need a massive performance now in the second leg at Stamford Bridge if they are to even stand a chance of progressing.

Brussels  - Rene Vandereycken was sacked on Tuesday night as Belgium national team coach over a poor World Cup qualifiying campaign with almost no hope of making the 2010 finals.

Vandereycken's time was over after begium lost twice to Bosnia-Herzegovina, on March 28 and April 1, to rank fourth in their group, 11 points behind runaway leaders Spain. Only the top team qualifies directly for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Zurich - Spain has built up a record lead atop the world football rankings, issued on Wednesday by the governing body FIFA, courtesy of its latest two victories.

The Euro 2008 champions defeated Turkey twice in World Cup qualifiers, 1-0 on March 28 and 2-1 on April 1, to stretch their unbeaten run to 31 games and lead the FIFA list with 1,729 points.

FIFA said that the 367-point advantage over second-placed Germany (1,362) is the biggest lead since the rankings which take into account national team games were introduced in 1993.

Manchester  - Mariano Gonzalez scored a late equaliser as Porto held Manchester United to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

The visitors took a fourth-minute lead through Cristian Rodriguez, only for a defensive howler to present Wayne Rooney with an equaliser 11 minutes later.

Substitute Carlos Tevez looked to have given United the win when he struck with five minutes remaining, but Mariano ghosted in at the back post to steal an equaliser three minuets later.