Left field

Barca tired? Not on this evidence

Men tuning in for lots of action in Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg ties would have rued the decision to stay in front of the TV on Valentines’ Night when Barcelona v Bayer Leverkusen and Olympique Lyon against APOEL Nicosia reached the 40-minute mark.

Both were 0-0. APOEL had not registered a shot on goal. Barcelona had dominated their German opposition with 78 per cent of possession, yet no opening score.

There have been reports of a tired Barcelona recently, justifiably. The La Liga and Champions League holders have slipped to 10 points behind arch rivals Real Madrid, who are about the strongest outfit left in Europe’s premier competition on current form.

Perhaps this woke Barcelona up as Alexis Sanchez netted a 41st-minute opener.  Coach Pep Guardiola said afterwards: “I think for the spectators the second half was more fun to watch than the first.”

Barcelona scored two more goals, Lionel Messi came alive, and the Catalans conceded just one in a hugely improved second-half display, that led Leverkusen defender Vedran Corluka to say the tie was over. Few would argue with him.

More in the balance is Lyon’s tie with unheralded APOEL, who will head back to Cyprus with just a one-goal deficit. Can the Nicosia side make more history and reach the quarters?

In action on Wednesday will be Arsenal’s record goalscorer Thierry Henry when the London-club travel to the San Siro for their AC Milan clash, while Zenit St Petersburg host Benfica. Valentine’s Day will be over so let’s hope for romance on the pitch in the first halves.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

No name calling just yet please, say Leverkusen

So they lost their first match of the season and dropped back three points from the top.

Big deal says Bayer Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes after their 3-2 loss to Nuremberg on Sunday. He is quick to reject any of the tags that Leverkusen have had to deal with for much of the past 15 years, like "Neverkusen" and "Vizekusen".

"That is irritating, but I cannot defend myself against such voices," Heynckes said of the nicknames that are now more frequently used in the media following the first defeat.

"What exactly happened here?", he told reporters on Monday. "Nothing. We were top of the table until the 24th matchday and then we just lost one match because we were not well positioned in our defence."

Long a team with huge potential, they became branded as the ultimate underachievers when they lost -- in just a matter of weeks -- the German Cup, German League and the Champions League final in 2002.

That became known as the "Treble Horror". Four times they finished second in the Bundesliga from 1997 to 2002. In both the 2000 and 2002 Bundesliga runs they had the title within their grasp only to let go in the last matches of the season.

This season though they have almost always managed to dig themselves out of difficult situations.