Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
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.”
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Soccer scores and the power of the pub
Let's be honest here, people, predicting the English football scores has proved to be a lot trickier than many of us imagined.
You'd have thought that the frankly obsessive interest most of us here at Reuters Soccer Blog Heights take in football would see us approach this competition with the pitiless, sweeping brilliance of Celta Vigo in their 'EuroCelta' heydey of 1998-2000*.
