Barcelona Bayer Leverkusen Odds : Guardiola looking for Champions League glory before departure
It seems that Champions’ League title holders Barcelona just have to complete the formalities of their progression into the next round when they take on Bayer Leverkusen at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night.
A comfortable 3-1 win in the first leg, away from home, leaves them in an extremely strong position going into the second leg.
Two goals by Chile’s Alexis Sanchez and a late strike by the prodigious Lionel Messi gave Barcelona a valuable away win. Leverkusen defender Michal Kadlec grabbed a consolation goal, but it surely will not be enough to give them a chance in this one.
In truth, it was an even more one sided encounter than the scoreline would suggest, with Barcelona enjoying almost 80 per cent of the possession.
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Pep Guardiola’s men are currently ten points adrift of Real Madrid in the La Liga title race, so the Champions’ League will surely now become the Catalans’ main priority. They will be eager to put on a performance in front of their own fans.
Barcelona will have to make do without left-back Eric Abidal who has been ruled out of the game with a groin injury he suffered while on international duty with France.
Two goal hero of the first leg, Sanchez, is another big name set to miss out after he picked up an abductor tear in the 3-1 over Sporting Gijon at he weekend, while Thiago remains a doubt. David Villa is a long-term injury absentee with a broken leg suffered back in December.
Leverkusen will again have to do without former Germany captain Michael Ballack who has been out of action since the middle of Feburary.
There are doubts over the fitness over Erin Derdiyok and Vedran Corluka, while Sidney Sam has definitely been ruled out of the game.
Overall, this is a game that many expect to be a comfortable home win. The German side will have to go for it from the first whistle though, so it should be an interesting contest.
