Barcelona ties with Stuttgart at Champions League
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Host Stuttgart was held to a 1-1 draw against Barcelona at Mercedes Benz Arena on Tuesday. Brazilian striker Cacau brought Stuttgart the deserved lead at the first half but the "Catalans" turned up and destroyed Stuttgart's hopes to take an advantage to second leg at Camp Nou.
From the start Stuttgart surprisingly dominated and produced goal-scoring scenes. Barcelona's staged a sloppy defence and was punished at the 25th minute when Cacau headed home the deserved opener from close range into top right corner after a cross by midfielder Timo Gebhardt from the right wing.
Flabbergasted Barcelona was unable to put up some resistence against furious Stuttgart within the first half. Minutes before break Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers denied Stuttgart a penaly after Barcelona’s defender Marquez fouled Timo Gebhardt inside the box.
After interval Barcelona took over control and destroyed all hopes by Stuttgart six minutes into second half. Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic's follow up shot from close distance was unstoppable by Stuttgart goalkeeper Lehman who denied Ibrahimovic's first attempt.
Barcelona turned up and had the opportunity to break through tie at the 69th minute. Stuttgart goalkeeper Lehman missed a cross so that Ibrahimovic had the chance to score into open goal but Stuttgart defender Cristian Molinaro cleared the ball off the line by hand. Again Dutch referee denied a penalty.
Barcelona remained active but was happy with the draw while Stuttgart seemed exhausted after the superb first half. The second leg will take place on March 17 at Camp Nou.
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