Barcelona fight back against Atletico – Champions League Roundup
FC Barcelona hosted Atletico Madrid in a dramatic encounter while Bayern Munich were challenged by a tough Benfica side.
FC Barcelona 2 – 1 Atletico Madrid
FC Barcelona were forced to fight back at home tonight in a heated encounter against Atletico Madrid. The visitors took the lead through Fernando Torres with 25 minutes played. However Torres soon went from hero to villain as he made two needless challenges which both earned him yellow cards. He headed for an early shower just ten minutes after scoring. Barcelona we far from perfect in the first half and coach Luis Enrique’s half-time speech saw the Catlans come out with a fire in their bellies. Barca bombarded the Atletico goal with shots from Messi and Neymar narrowly going wide. However a Dani Alves cross met Jordi Alba who’s scuffed shot was turned in by Luis Suarez to level the sides with 63 minutes played. Intricate play from Messi saw Suárez lay the ball out to Alves who’s cross was the perfect height for Suarez who’s bullet headed beat Oblak with 20 minutes left. Barcelona couldn’t find a third goal but have the edge ahead of next weeks second leg. 11 yellow cards in total for the two sides and an away goal for Atletico sees this tie finely posed.
Bayern Munich 1-0 Benfica
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich got off to a dream start tonight when Arturo Vidal fired the home side ahead inside two minutes.Bernat’s cross was headed home emphatically by the Chilean midfielder. However Benfica were resilient in defence tonight and prevented and attack minded Bayern from increasing their lead.All in all not a bad result for the Portuguese side who will look to make the most of next week’s home tie. Porto shocked Bayern last season beating the Germans 3-1 in Portugal which provides hope for Benfica. With only a home goal separating the sides this one is all to play for.
