There is still all to play for, after Chelsea and Barcelona shared the spoils in their UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg tie at Stamford Bridge.
Lionel Messi finally ended his hoodoo against the Blues, following his 75th minute equaliser, which cancelled Willian Borges’s opener for the host in their 1-1 draw.
The visitors dominated the game, but Chelsea always looked the most likely to score, as they came close twice through Willian, who hit the post twice in the first half.
The Blues sat back, happy to let their visitors have the ball while they played on the counter and should have really scored but for the bar which denied them twice as both sides went into the break with no goals scored.
Barca continued to dominate on the ball after the break, but it was Chelsea who took the lead via Willian, as Cesc Fabregas played a short corner to Eden Hazard, who picked out Willian with a lovely pass at the edge of the box, and the Brazilian finished with a beautiful curling effort to put Chelsea ahead.
However, that goal only lasted 13minutes as loppy defending from Andreas Christensen gifted Messi an opportunity, which the Argentine gladly took to draw Barca level on the night.
A decisive away goal for the Spanish side, but there is still all to play for in the second leg.
Muller, Lewandowski end Besiktas’ seven-game unbeaten run in Europe
The duo of Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski scored a brace each as Bayern Munich all but confirmed their place in the next round of the CL with a 5–0 demolition of ten-man Besiktas at the Allianz Arena.
After Domagoj Vida’s dismissal in the 15th minute, the tie was well and truly over as the home side to dominated, though it did take the Bavarians a while to make their numerical advantage count.
They were made to wait until just before the break to find a breakthrough, as Muller put them 1-0 ahead heading to the break.
After the break, there would be no stopping the German Champions, as Kingsley Coman doubled their lead in the 53rd minute, before Muller completed his brace when he made it 3-0 just after the hour mark.
Lewandowski added two more goals in the last ten minutes of the game to all but confirm Bayern’s passage to the next round as they ended Besiktas’ unbeaten run in Europe.
The win was Bayern’s 14th consecutive wins in all competitions, while Besiktas were one of four sides yet to taste defeated prior to their heavy loss.
Full Results
Bayern 5-0 Besiktas
Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona
