Ibrahimovic goal gives Barça upper hand

A second half equaliser from Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic was enough to hold off the challenge of a valiant Stuttgart and give Barcelona the edge in the second leg at Camp Nou.

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Stuttgart gave reigning champions Barcelona all they had in their Champions League last-16 clash on Tuesday, but the Spanish side managed to get into their silky stride after the half time break to draw 1-1 and enter the second leg as clear
favourites.

The high-tempo German side had by far the best first half, with Brazilian-born striker Cacau, fresh from four goals against Cologne on Saturday, stunning the Catalans with a goal on 25 minutes.

A perfectly delivered cross from Timo Gebhart found Cacau on the far post, who headed it powerfully past Victor Valdes' outstretched arm.

Three minutes later Stuttgart had a strong shout for a penalty for handball turned down by referee Bjorn Kuipers as Pavel Pogrebnyak's cross hit Gerard Pique's arm.

A string of other chances followed in the Mercedes-Benz Arena as the home side ran rings around the ragged defending European champions.

On 18 minutes, in one of Barca's surprisingly rare forays into the Stuttgart half, Argentinian star Lionel Messi had a shot blocked, but their best chance came on 39 minutes as Messi shot from just outside the area.

Arsenal old boy Jens Lehmann got a hand to it, and the ball rolled perilously close to the target, only to hit the post and bounce back into the arms of a grateful eeper.

But Barca took control in the second half as Stuttgart tired.

Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made it 1-1 on 52 minutes, firing it past Lehmann at close range after the German managed to block his first attempt.

Stuttgart briefly looked dangerous on 63 minutes when Sami Khedira, an occasional feature in the German national side, had a chance to make it 2-1 but his shot went wide. Another chance came 10 minutes later.

But Barca never looked like losing as the goal knocked the stuffing out of Stuttgart and they became increasingly desperate.

In the last 10 minutes, Barca slowed the tempo right down, and the tired Germans hardly got a look-in.

On 67 minutes, a shot from Ibrahimovic hit Italian defender Cristian Molinaro on the upper arm on the goal line, but no handball was given.

The Catalans were almost back to full strength with the return from injury of midfielder Xavi Hernandez, who had had a thigh strain, and Ibrahimovic.

Still absent though was defender Dani Alves, out of action since earlier in the month with a leg muscle problem, as well as Malian midfielder Seydou Keita and French defender Eric Abidal.

Despite scoring Barca's second of four against Racing Santander on Saturday, fellow Frenchman Thierry Henry started on the bench, a place becoming painfully familiar to the 32-year-old former Arsenal star.

But he came on early in the second half, replacing Yaya Toure.