UCL: Juve crash out to Bayern, Barcelona survive scare

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Conte lets rip as Juve crash out to Bayern

Juve were outclassed during a 2-0 first leg defeat to the newly-crowned German champions last week in Munich and despite a far better performance in Turin on Wednesday, the hosts fell to another 2-0 reverse.

Conte, a former midfielder with the two-time European champions before leading the club to their 28th Scudetto in his first season in charge last year, said Tuesday there was a huge gap between his side and big-spending Bayern.

After second-half goals from Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Pizarro sealed the Bundesliga side's place in the semis for the third time in four years, the 43-year-old Conte took aim at Italian football in general.

He said it is time for Italy's clubs to start generating the finance needed to compete on a level playing field with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester United.

If not, Juve could go the way of one of European football's strongest sides in the 1970s, Dutch giants Ajax, who have struggled to get back to Europe's top table in the past two decades.

Barcelona survive scare to reach semi-finals

Barcelona survived a huge scare from Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals for the sixth successive season on away goals after a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou.

The 2-2 draw between the pair in last week's quarter-final first leg had handed the advantage to the Catalans, but with star player Lionel Messi only starting the return as a substitute due to a hamstring injury, they seemed nervous throughout and PSG deservedly went in front just after half-time through Javier Pastore.

However, with Messi summoned from the bench, Pedro fired home 19 minutes from time to send Barca into the last four.

And the winger was even more relieved to have scored the equaliser having given the ball away in the lead up to the PSG goal.