Late equaliser spares Barca's blushes
Puyol netted an own goal for the Catalans
Also In The News
|
Manchester United went some way to avenging being dumped out of last year's competition at the same stadium with a 1-0 win at Benfica's Stadium of Light. |  |
Wednesday, 27, Sep 2006 10:18
A last-gasp equaliser from Argentina star Lionel Messi spared Barcelona's blushes to give the European champions a 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen in Germany.
Messi popped up in the 89th minute to cancel out an own-goal by skipper Carlos Puyol which had given the hosts a surprise lead.
The result sees the Spanish giants in second place on four points behind Chelsea, who beat Levski Sofia 3-1, ahead of their grudge match against the Blues in three weeks.
Bremen dominated the first half and wasted several chances to score against a below-par Barcelona.
Their dominance was rewarded on 56 minutes when Puyol stuck out a leg to divert Aaron Hunt's cross past the helpless Victor Valdes.
Barcelona's best chance of the second half fell to Ludovic Giuly who fired his close range header wide following a corner from Ronaldinho.
But Frank Rijkaard's side got an undeserved equaliser with their final attack when Messi collected Deco's exquisite pass and tucked the ball past goalkeeper Tim Wiese.
The result extends the Spanish champion's unbeaten run in the competition to 15 matches.
Rijkaard will face-off against Jose Mourinho for the third straight season on October 18th at Stamford Bridge followed by the second group match in the Nou Camp two weeks later.