Barcelona were matched by a battling Stuttgart side as the two played out a 1-1 draw at the Mercedez-Benz Arena.
Ibrahimovic goal rescues Barca from defeat in Germany
UEFA Champions League holders Barcelona were matched by a battling Stuttgart side as the two played out a 1-1 draw at the Mercedez-Benz Arena.
Barcelona had to display the kind of grit needed to defend their trophy as they were forced to come from behind after Stuttgart took the lead through Brazilian-born striker Cacau.
The Germany international headed the hosts into a well-deserved 25th minute lead, but the Catalan giants bounced back through Zlatan Imbrahimovic's 52nd-minute equaliser.
Barcelona dominated possession for much of the second-half but were unable to break down the Germans again. Both sides had legitimate penalty appeals turned down either side of the break, but a draw was a fair reflection on a game of few clear cut chances.
Lionel Messi provided the game's first piece of inspiration in the 18th minute as he dribbled towards a backtracking Stuttgart defence before seeing his well struck shot blocked as the home side swarmed to contain him.
Mexican centre-halve Rafael Marquez picked up the first caution of the game when he tripped up Stuttgart's Christian Molinaro with 22 minutes on the clock.
Opener
The booking sparked the hosts into life and they were rewarded soon after when striker Cacau, who scored four goals at the weekend, headed in Timo Gebhert's pinpoint cross at the back post after 25 minutes.
The Germans had the holders rattled and had appeals for a penalty turned down moments after the opener when Pavel Pogrebnyak's cross appeared to strike Barcelona defender Gerard Pique's arm.
The Spaniard did keep his arms by his side, however, which perhaps persuaded Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers not to award the spot-kick.
Stuttgart showed the Catalans no mercy as Barcelona's defence struggled with the pace of their play and dangerman Cacau made Victor Valdes save with a toe-poked effort on goal after 33 minutes.
Former Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann almost gifted the visitors an equaliser five minutes before the break as he spilled a shot from Messi after the Argentine had skipped past the German defence.
The ball bounced back off the post, safely into the keeper's arms in the closest Barcelona came in an exciting first half.
After the break, Gebhert soon went into the book after he barged into Maxwell with the home side struggling for possession early on.
And Barcelona were level a minute later as Ibrahimovic finished at the second time of asking after being teed up by the head of Pique on 52 minutes.
Lehmann saved the Swede's original volley, but was helpless as the ball fell kindly for the striker to stroke past him from close range.
It was the start to the half which the holders desperately needed and they began to assert themselves on the game by dominating possession without offering a great deal of threat on goal.
Escape
The hosts had a lucky escape on 69 minutes when Lehmann fumbled a corner and Ibrahimovic's goal-bound effort was stopped on the line by the arm of Cristian Molinaro.
However, the referee judged the Stuttgart defender to have blocked with his head despite the protests of the well-placed Carlos Puyol.
Valdes then made a fumble of his own in the opposite goal when Molinaro fizzed in a low cross, but he recovered to make the block from substitute Ciprian Marica's follow up.
Molinaro went into the book soon after being penalised for a late swipe at Andreas Iniesta with only six minutes left on the clock.
Pique was next in the book as he was penalised for a tug on Marica just outside the box in the first minute of injury time.
Substitute Zdravko Kuzmanovic fired the resulting free-kick on target but straight down the throat of Valdes.
Moments after, Messi was almost punished by former Barcelona player Alex Hleb who collected the ball after he slipped in possession. However, captain Puyol bailed the little Argentine out with two successive flying tackles.
There was still time for Sami Khedira to pick up the fifth booking of the game as he halted a Barcelona attack by tripping up Messi, who was bursting forwards with the ball.
The final whistle sounded soon after and although the Germans gave a good account of themselves, the holders will remain favourites to progress to the quarter-finals ahead of the second leg.
| VfB Stuttgart |
Team Statistics |
Barcelona |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
0 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 2 |
Corners |
5 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
8 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 73.9 |
Passing Success |
89.3 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
21 |
| 81 |
Tackles Success |
61.9 |
| 28.4 |
Possession |
71.6 |
| 54.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.4 |
|
