Guardiola thanks Barca fans

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola hailed his side's supporters for the role they played in their win over Lyon.

And he asked them for more of the same as the Catalan giants continue their chase for the treble.

Barca stormed into the quarter-finals after scoring four times in 18 minutes prior to half-time en route to downing the French champions 5-2 at the Nou Camp, securing a 6-3 aggregate triumph in the process.

It was a classy display from Barca, who have now recorded two impressive victories to seemingly get their season back on track after going five games without a win, and Guardiola was keen to praise the fans for their part in proceedings, with a crowd of around 90,000 roaring on the home side.

"I'm grateful the stadium was full. The fans have been very good," said Guardiola, whose team have already reached the Copa del Rey final and are six points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

"It's clear that we will have to make an even bigger effort than we have until now. In Madrid they will soon forget the Champions League and focus on the league.

"Without the support of the fans we will not be able to achieve it."

Striker Samuel Eto'o, who scored his side's fourth goal to end his recent scoring drought of four games, added: "I want to dedicate my goal to the fans and give them my thanks.

"If in every game we have some supporters like tonight, then surely we wouldn't even draw any matches."

Aside from Eto'o's strike, France international Thierry Henry netted a brace before the break while Lionel Messi added another as Barca, fresh from their 2-0 win over fellow Copa del Rey finalists Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, blitzed Lyon in the first half.

Lyon threatened to stage a fightback with two strikes in quick succession either side of half-time from Jean Makoun and Juninho, but they could make no further in-roads and Barca wrapped up with win a fifth late on from Seydou Keita.

"We played very well. We've played other good games, but maybe because of the importance of this match it was one of the best," said Guardiola.

Barca must now wait until a week on Friday to see who they are paired against in the last eight of the Champions League, with holders Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Porto and fellow Spanish side Villarreal the other clubs through.

Prior to that draw though, Barca face a league game against Almeria this weekend and Guardiola preferred to concentrate on that match rather than think about who they might get in Europe.

"Now we have Almeria. Whoever we are drawn against (in Champions League) will be welcome," he said.

"We will study them a lot, and we will try to know their weak points. They are all very good. There are four English teams, and I also want to congratulate Villarreal. Regarding the Germans and Portuguese, they are famous teams from their countries. Whoever we get will be nice.

"We are among the best eight teams in Europe and we have to be happy because one of the best eight teams will visit the Nou Camp."