LEVERKUSEN, Germany – FC Barcelona defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Tuesday in the round of 16 at the Bay Arena here. The teams return to UEFA Champions League play after a two month recess between group and knock out stage.
Barcelona took control of the match, maintaining over 70% possession of the ball during the 90 minutes of play. The blaugrana scored towards the end of the first half of a match that was slow with no real danger to each goalkeeper.
Barca’s Lionel Messi had the first clear shot. He received a ball that he took into the penalty box. However, when the crafty Argentine was in position to shoot, a defender cleared the ball from his foot, sending it to a corner kick.
From that point on, the first half was a midfield battle with Barcelona taking control against a German-side that bet on a counterstrike. The Spanish giants would be the first to get on the board, with the genius of Messi at the helm.
Alexis Sanchez received a long pass from Messi. The Chilean ran the ball in to face goalkeeper Bernd Leno who had come off his line to challenge the player. Sanchez hit the ball low to beat the keeper giving Barca the 1-0 lead in the 41st minute of play.
Croatian Vedran Corluka fought for a loose ball all the way to the out of bounds line. He chipped the ball past his marker to Czech Michal Kadlec who headed the ball into Victor Valdes’ net to tie the game 1-1 in the 52nd minute.
Three minutes later Sanchez put Barcelona ahead once more. He received a filtered pass from Francesc Fabregas, beat his marker on the run, and pulled Leno from his line once more. Sanchez shot the ball just out of the reach of a sliding Leno to score his second goal in this year’s Champions League.
The post saved Barcelona when Uruguayan Gonzalo Castro shot past Valdes. He had beaten his marker and shot to the keeper’s right beating him, however, the post denied the ball’s entrance.
Messi stole the ball at midfield and ran it to Leverkusen’s end of the field. He filtered it to Dani Alves who beat his marker, avoiding the offside call. The Brazilian lifted the ball over a kneeling Leno as he passed it back to Messi. La pulga slid into the area to put the ball into the net for the final 3-1.
The cules take a two goal advantage against the Germans as they take their first steps in their march to the Champions League final in Munich next May.
Valiant effort from Apoel
French-side Olympique Lyonnais managed a 1-0 win over Cypriot-side Apoel Nicosia at the Stade de Gerland to initiate their Champions League round of 16 on a positive note. Apoel is living a Cinderella-like tournament, becoming the first Cypriot team to reach the knock out stage of the Champions League.
Alexandre Lacazette, a prospect from Lyon’s youth system, gave Le Gons the only goal of the game. Lacazette received a pass from Brazilian Cris in the penalty box. The 20 year old hit the ball with his right. It was deflected by a defender and went over goalkeeper Dionisis Chiotis' reach to give Lyon the win.
The return leg for all four teams is scheduled for March 7, 2012. Barcelona hosts Bayer Leverkusen at the Camp Nou stadium and Apoel Nicosia receives Lyon at the Neo GSP Stadium.
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