Barça set up Bremen showdown

Barça set up Bremen showdown
FC Barcelona ended a three-game UEFA Champions League sequence without a victory by inflicting a fourth successive defeat on PFC Levski Sofia and enhance their chances of qualifying for the knockout rounds.
Bremen meetingTo do that the holders will have to beat Werder Bremen, 1-0 winners against Chelsea FC tonight, at home in their final Group A fixture on Matchday 6. A defeat or even a draw here would have made the Spanish visitors the first defending champions to fail to progress through a group stage in the UEFA Champions League era, but an early strike from Ludovic Giuly and a second-half goal from Andrés Iniesta made sure there was to be no shock in Sofia.
Champions graveyardLevski's home ground had a period when it regularly sounded the death knell for the aspirations of the European Champion Clubs' Cup holders. Both AFC Ajax (1973/74) and Liverpool FC (1981/82) lost their crowns here while Nottingham Forest FC (1980/81) suffered a 1-0 defeat in the first round first leg before losing the City Ground return by a similar scoreline. If history suggested another surprise result, Barcelona were determined to pay no heed. An early goal was their aim and it arrived as swiftly as the fifth minute, though seconds earlier the holders had to survive a scare in their own goalmouth when Hristo Yovov beat Gianluca Zambrotta only to elect to shoot from a difficult angle, his effort clipping the outside of the near post.

Opportunist GiulyUndeterred, Zambrotta advance down the right and while Eidur Gudjohnsen could not connect properly with the cross, with Levski badly stretched the ball fell kindly for Giuly to open the scoring with a controlled drive. In the Camp Nou, Levski had held out for two minutes more before falling behind, and it would have been easy for their heads to drop but having seen Ronaldinho loop a free-kick too high, they gathered their spirit and resources and proceeded to push Barça back. The Bulgarian champions engineered a number of promising situations but lacked the composure and good fortune to take full advantage. Stanislav Angelov was unlucky to see a fierce drive blocked then the same player was only just beaten to the ball by Victor Valdés following Cédric Bardon's clever back-heel.

Gudjohnsen openingsBarcelona had two great opportunities to put the issue beyond doubt at the start of the second half. In each case Gudjohnsen was the man scenting glory but first slashed at his shot before being denied by the legs of Georgi Petkov, who then blocked Giuly's follow-up the same way. It enabled Levski to believe they could still get a significant result from their night's work. They remained true to their adventurous instincts and it required a last-ditch tackle from Rafael Márquez to prevent Valeri Domovchiyski latching on to a loose ball inside the penalty area.

Iniesta clincherThen, in the 65th minute, Barça could finally relax. Deco followed a smart break with a rasping shot that Petkov failed to hold and Iniesta followed up to give the holders breathing space and set up a decisive final fixture in a fortnight's time. Levski, meanwhile, are guaranteed to finish their first group-stage campaign in fourth position ahead of their final fixture at Chelsea.
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Trevor Haylett, UEFA Official Site, 22.11.06