Bayer Leverkusen vs FC Barcelona: Champions League live scores, blog

 
The Crowd Roar Guru

By , 15 Feb 2012 The Crowd is a Roar Guru

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Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen host reigning European champions FC Barcelona in the first leg of this UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie. Join us for live scores and blog from 6:30am AEDT.

For the first time in many moons, Barcelona are looking vulnerable and could be in for a rude shock if they play below their best against Leverkusen this morning.

While Leverkusen themselves are hardly setting the Bundesliga on fire, expect the German club to put all their eggs in the one basket here and take the game to the La Liga giants.

Currently in sixth position in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen is currently ten points adrift from an automatic spot in the Champions League next season.

Given that they are unlikely to finish inside the top four domestically, the German club will be eager to make the most of their place in the Champions League knockout stages with a high intensity performance against Barcelona.

Pep Guardiola’s men meanwhile go into this match knowing their chances of retaining the La Liga title are gone, given that Real Madrid extended their lead atop of the table to ten points thanks to their win over Levante.

Coming off a 3-2 loss to Osasuna, Barcelona will need to play at their usual high level if they are to keep Leverkusen at bay.

Prediction:

Although Barcelona has struggled on the road in La Liga, they did win all their away matches during the Champions League group stages which included a 3-2 victory over AC Milan at the San Siro.

The Catalan kings however could be up against it early on as Leverkusen aim to pressure Guardiola’s men into error. Expect Xavi, Iniesta and Messi to hardly be given time on the ball during the opening stages here.

Like Osasuna before them, if Leverkusen can somehow sneak an early goal, then it will go a long way to disrupting Barcelona’s ability to dominate possession.

Furthermore, an early goal will allow Leverkusen to play on the counter attack, and this is where key players such as Eren Derdiyok, Tranquillo Barnetta, Simon Rolfes and Stefan Kiessling can trouble a Barcelona backline that lacks pace.

For Barcelona, the equation is simple. If they can weather the early storm from Leverkusen, expect Xavi, Ineista and Messi to take control of proceedings here

Messi in particular will welcome the inclusion of Xavi and Iniesta back into the fold, given that the two Spanish internationals were rested for the game against Osasuna.

With attacking superstars Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas also likely to start, Barcelona should have too much firepower for Leverkusen if the Spaniards are allowed to dicate the tempo of the match.

Overall, this is likely to be a tight contest given that both sides will be desperate to stay alive in the Champions League in order to make up for disappointing domestic performances. Despite their poor form, expect Barcelona to bounce back somewhat and register a narrow 2-1 victory against Leverkusen.

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