Lyon (France): Barcelona were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at Olympique Lyonnais in their Champions League last 16 first leg here Tuesday. The stalemate enabled both sides to maintain their unbeaten record in this season’s competition.
The La Liga leaders dominated the match at the Groupama Stadium but lacked accuracy up front and were grateful to their goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen who made two great saves.
Barca had a total of 25 shots but only five on target and their best chance came in the last minute when Sergio Busquets’s 18-metre attempt was tipped over the bar by Anthony Lopes.
The second leg will be at the Nou Camp on March 13, a game where Lyon will welcome back France striker and captain Nabil Fekir, who was suspended, for Tuesday’s game.
“We could have done better in the first half and converted our chances but we did not concede a goal so our chances are intact,” said Lyon defender Leo Dubois.
Lyon coach Bruno Genesio sprung a surprise by fielding Martin Terrier on the left wing instead of Maxwell Cornet and the 21-year-old did not disappoint.
Barca dominated possession early on, but Lyon had the first two shots on target and it took a couple of superb saves from Ter Stegen to deny the hosts, who never came that close again. Ter Stegen stretched to his left to parry a vicious low shot by Hassem Aouar in the fifth minute before making a one-handed save to tip a 25-metre Terrier missile onto his crossbar.
Barca forward Ousmane Dembele came close in the 19th minute when he dribbled past Dubois on the left flank, only for keeper Lopes to deny him in a one-on-one.
Another Dembele attempt shaved Lopes’s post before Terrier skewed his shot over the bar after a superb series of one-twos tore the Barca defence apart as both sides tried to break the deadlock.
Lopes beat Lionel Messi’s angled shot away to keep his side level before Dembele was replaced by Philippe Coutinho, who had a clear chance in the 76th but was denied by in-form Lopes.
Barca have now failed to win any of their last six away games in the Champions League knockout stage, with their last victory coming at Arsenal in February 2016.
Reuters