alexis sánchez's double and a seventh european goal of the season for lionel messi means the holders are firmly on course for the quarter-finals.
alexis sánchez scored twice as holders fc barcelona took a giant step towards a place in the uefa champions league quarter-finals with victory at bayer 04 leverkusen.
though they spent much of the opening period trying in vain to prise open their obdurate hosts, josep guardiola's men went in at half-time ahead courtesy of alexis sánchez's 41st-minute strike, his maiden goal in uefa club competition. the chilean international doubled his team's tally ten minutes after the restart, nipping in the bud a leverkusen rally sparked by michal kadlec's 52nd-minute header. lionel messi's seventh of the competition late on left barcelona in control going into the second leg on 7 march.
leverkusen coach robin dutt had estimated his team would enjoy one-third of possession but, when the visitors kept the ball for over a minute from kick-off, that figure looked ambitious. dutt's plans for his conservative lineup to stifle barcelona's formidable attacking talents did initially prove astute, however.
gonzalo castro's over-enthusiastic pursuit of messi gave barça a promising free-kick that daniel alves wasted, and the only time the hosts were cut apart was when manuel friedrich inadvertently played in sánchez − daniel schwaab's magnificent lunge to intercept the chilean's cross denied messi what surely would have been the opening goal.
the leverkusen fans had unfurled a banner depicting their team as vikings in a longboat just before kick-off, and the players certainly seemed intent on matching the scandinavians' legendary combativeness as they tirelessly harried their opponents. however, whenever their passing fails to break down opponents, barça remain patient, and they bided their time before leverkusen's rigid discipline finally cracked.
the hosts were caught upfield when stefan reinartz's mis-kick presented messi with the opportunity to loft a pass into space for sánchez and cesc fàbregas to burst on to. the latter left it to the former to calmly slot a shot between bernd leno's legs.
clearly deflated at the interval, there was renewed belief about leverkusen when they re-emerged, and their greater ambition was quickly rewarded when kadlec rose above alves to head vedran Ćorluka's cross beyond victor valdés. parity, though, was fleeting as barça responded in trademark fashion. fàbregas's sublime through ball was simply too good for the leverkusen back four, and sánchez effortlessly rounded leno before finishing from a tight angle.
leverkusen responded once more and after valdés had halted a renato augusto drive, the goalkeeper was beaten by gonzalo castro's low shot only for the ricochet off the far post to go barcelona's way. messi, too, tested the woodwork after darting between two defenders and chipping leno, and both sides had further chances to add to the scoreline, with substitute stefan kiessling heading straight at valdés before leno's sharp reflexes denied sánchez a hat-trick.
as leverkusen wearied, barça enjoyed greater freedom, and alves broke forward before finding messi, who lunged to touch in and make himself the competition's outright leading scorer.
yardımcı hakem: alasdair ross (sco), derek rose (sco)
4. hakem: steven mclean (sco)
çizgi hakemleri: william collum (sco), euan norris (sco)
leverkusen: bernd leno (gk), daniel schwaab, stefan reinartz, manuel friedrich, simon rolfes (c) (dk. 77 stefan kiessling), lars bender, andré schürrle (dk. 90 karim bellarabi), renato augusto, vedran Ćorluka (dk. 90+1 danny da costa), michal kadlec, gonzalo castro
yedekler: david yelldell (gk), bastian oczipka, michael ortega, ömer toprak
teknik direktör: robin dutt (ger)
barcelona: víctor valdés (gk), daniel alves, cesc fàbregas, carles puyol (c), andrés iniesta (dk. 61 thiago alcántara), alexis sánchez (dk. 86 isaac cuenca), lionel messi, javier mascherano, sergio busquets, adriano (dk. 70 pedro rodríguez), éric abidal
yedekler: josé pinto (gk), jonathan dos santos, sergi roberto, marc bartra
barcelona'nın yıldız ismi lionel messi, şampiyonlar ligi ikinci turu ilk maçında bayer leverkusen karşısında golünü atarak devler ligi tarihinde gruplardan sonraki eleme turlarının en golcü oyuncusu oldu.
arjantinli süperstar, alman ekibi karşısında grup aşamasından sonraki maçlardaki (ikinci tur, çeyrek final, yarı final ve final) 19. golünü atarak 18'er gollü raul ve andriy shevchenko'yu geride bıraktı.
bu kategoride daha sonraki isimler ise 16 golle filippo ınzaghi, 14 golle wayne rooney ve 13 golle cristiano ronaldo.
nou camp'da susuyor, deplasmanda durmuyor
bundesliga ekibi karşısında şampiyonlar ligi'ndeki 44. golünü atan messi böylelikle devler ligi'nde deplasmanda (bu maçlardan biri geçen yıl wembley'deki final) çıktığı üst üste yedinci maçta da en az bir gol atmayı bildi. şampiyonlar ligi'nde bunu daha önce sadece jari litmanen, hernan crespo ve thierry henry başarmıştı.
bu 7 maçta 11 gol atan arjantinli'nin bu süreçte nou camp'daki 4 şampiyonlar ligi maçında gol atamaması da ilginç bir istatistik olarak kayıtlara yansıdı.
leo, şampiyonlar ligi'ndeki bu ilginç istatistiğinin aksine la liga'da son haftalarda deplasmanlarda gol bulmakta zorlanıyor.
son dakikaların adamı
leverkusen karşısında 89. dakikada golü bulan messi'nin, barcelona kariyerindeki 218. golünde 34. kez maçların son 5 dakikası içinde ağları havalandırmış olması da bir hayli ilginç.
- “eğer messi gibi birisiyle karşı karşıya oynarsanız, her zaman onun formasını istersiniz.” | bayer leverkusen ile barcelona arasında oynanan maçtan sonra, messi’nin forması için friedrich ile tartışan michel kadlec.
