Barcelona rely on Zlatan Ibrahimovic to snatch draw at Stuttgart

Posted Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by theguardian.com

Barcelona rely on Zlatan Ibrahimovic to snatch draw at Stuttgart
Stuttgart's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and defender Cristian Molinaro, left, cannot prevent Zlatan Ibrahimovic from steering home Barcelona's equaliser.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored at the second attempt as the Champions League holders, Barcelona, escaped from Stuttgart with a 1-1 draw.

The Swedish striker struck just after the interval to put the Spanish side in the driving seat heading into the second leg of the last-16 tie after Cacau, fresh from his four-goal haul against Cologne at the weekend, had given Stuttgart a deserved half-time lead.

The home side, who have improved immensely under the former Tottenham manager Christian Gross and had won six of their previous seven games, never let Barça settle and were rewarded when Cacau scored in the 25th minute with a powerful header.

Stuttgart created another opportunity in the 35th minute following good work by the on-loan Barça player Alexander Hleb. Christian Trasch wasted the chance, though, slicing his shot well wide from the edge of the area.

Barça's much-vaunted attack were getting little change out of the Stuttgart defence, but from nowhere they almost grabbed an equaliser five minutes before the break. Lionel Messi, who had been his side's main threat, fired in a shot from 25 yards that looked set to creep in at the far post after only being half stopped by goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. However, the ball struck the post and rebounded back into his arms.

Pep Guardiola's side equalised seven minutes into the second half. Gerard Piqué used his 6ft 3in frame to good effect to nod a high ball down to Ibrahimovic, and although Lehmann blocked his first shot, the Swede slotted home the rebound.

Ibrahimovic looked certain to put Barça ahead in the 67th minute after Lehmann had failed to collect a corner, but the former Internazionale striker's shot struck Cristian Molinaro on the line and flew over the bar.

A goal from Michael Ciani in first-half injury time gave Bordeaux a 1-0 victory at Olympiakos. Ciani met a free-kick from Yoann Gourcuff with a downward header which beat the goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis.

The home side's best chance came with just under 10 minutes left when Matt Derbyshire, once of Blackburn, and the former Portsmouth striker Lomana LuaLua combined but the latter's shot was tipped around the post.