Two goals by Alexis Sanchez — his first in the Champions League — led Barcelona to a 3-1 first-leg win at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Tuesday to put the holders in the driving seat in their round-of-16 tie.
Barca, who are now unbeaten in 13 Champions League games and have scored in 28 consecutive matches in the competition, are trying to lift the trophy for the third time in four years.
While Chile forward Alexis struck twice, it was Lionel Messi who once again stole the show with another sublime exhibition of ball skills, capped by a late third goal from the World Player of the Year.
Photo: EPA
“We are very satisfied with the result, because scoring three goals away is very important,” Barca coach Pep Guardiola said.
The visitors grabbed the lead in the 41st minute after a brilliant left-footed flick by Messi sent Alexis racing through on goal.
Michal Kadlec equalized in the 52nd minute, but the 23-year-old Chilean made it 2-1 three minutes later.
Messi completed the win, starting an 88th-minute move that also involved Dani Alves and finishing it with a volley at the far post as Barca avenged their 2001 defeat by Leverkusen, the last German club to beat them.
Asked whether he was planning to rest Messi, who has now scored a remarkable 25 goals in his past 24 Champions League matches, Guardiola replied: “Why? People want to see players like him.”
“His life is football. He doesn’t care. He’s just happy when he plays. For us it’s very important when he plays,” he said.
Leverkusen, without injured playmaker Michael Ballack, knew they would have to work hard and chase the Spaniards for the ball, and with 80 percent possession in the first half, Barca set the tone.
The German club managed to keep their scoring chances to a minimum until Messi lifted the ball over Leverkusen’s back line and Alexis ran on to beat goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Leverkusen perked up in the second half and Kadlec gave them hope when he climbed high to head in at the far post after rightback Vedran Corluka crossed from the byline.
Alexis then scored from a tight angle after dribbling round Leno, before Gonzalo Castro’s low drive was expertly tipped on to the post by Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who followed up by stopping a diving header from Stefan Kiessling.
“Our defensive operation was good in the first half, but we also had too much respect for Barca and were afraid,” Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt said. “In the second half, it was completely different and we made it uncomfortable for them at times.”
Leverkusen tried hard to force a second equalizer that would have kept the tie alive for the return leg in Spain on March 7, but Argentina forward Messi, who hit the woodwork earlier, put the game beyond the hosts with two minutes left.
“I think it is finished now,” former Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur defender Corluka said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but