Barcelona president Joan Laporta has praised his players after their Champions League quarterfinal progress last night against Bayern Munich.

A 1-1 draw sees Barca progress to the Champions League semifinals 5-1 on aggregate and Laporta beamed: "We played great football and it's a great achievement to reach the semifinals of this competition for the third time in four seasons.

"The game against Chelsea is exciting. If we can again enjoy the support of our fans like tonight, we can continue our progress to the final of a competition we have already won in 2006."