Barcelona booked their spot in the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Spartak Moscow on Tuesday.

They took the lead with a Dani Alves volley early on, while a Lionel Messi double secured a three-goal lead at the interval.

Spartak did threaten in the second period, but Barcelona closed the match out to book their spot in the next round.

Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two Group G rivals.

Match statistics:

Spartak Moscow:
Shots 9
On target 0
Possession 33%
Corners 2
Fouls 11

Barcelona:
Shots 12
On target 7
Possession 67%
Corners 6
Fouls 8

Was the result fair?

In a word, yes. Spartak were not particularly bad this evening, but they met Barcelona at the wrong time. It had been suggested that the artificial pitch would hamper the Spanish outfit, but their passing style suited the surface as they passed and probed throughout the 90 minutes. Barcelona were just far too good for the Russian side.

Spartak Moscow's performance

5/10. Despite the comprehensive scoreline, Spartak did have chances in the opening period. They managed six attempts in the first half of football, but never really looked capable of causing an upset. Some poor defending contributed to the three goals they conceded, but they were just up against a wonderful side.

Barcelona's performance

8/10. Barcelona have not been at their best at times this season, but that changed this evening. The Spanish outfit were stunning in the opening period as they raced into a three-goal lead, with Xavi and Andres Iniesta dictating the tempo of the match. The second half was less eventful in terms of chances, but they always looked capable of raising the tempo.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Lionel Messi: The Argentine has now scored 80 goals in this calendar year and is just five shy of Gerd Muller's world record of 85. He is just an absolute genius.

Biggest gaffe of the match

Make no mistake about it, Spartak had their chances this evening. However, poor finishing cost them the chance to open the scoring in the first period of play.

Referee performance

Ivan Bebek allowed the play to flow in the correct areas this evening and rightly awarded Pedro a yellow card for a dive in the opening period. It was a successful 90 minutes of work from the Croatian.

What next?

Spartak Moscow: Spartak return to domestic action at home to Dinamo Moscow on Sunday. Meanwhile, their final Champions League match of the group campaign is against Celtic on December 5.

Barcelona: The Catalan outfit will return to league action away to Levante on Sunday. They will attempt to wrap up top spot in the group when they host Benfica in the Champions League on December 5.