23 November 2006, by Sean Gillen

Shaky Barcelona stutter past Sofia

Levski Sofia 0-2 Barcelona

Holders Barcelona kept their hopes of qualification for the next phase of the Champions league alive with a crucial victory over Levski Sofia in Bulgaria. Goals from Ludovic Giuly and Andres Iniesta secured the win that sets up an intriguing match with Werder Bremen on matchday six.

Barca, who started with Portuguese international Deco in midfield, went into the game knowing that they had to match the Germans’ result to stay in the competition, and a win was required as Bremen beat Chelsea 1-0 in the other match in the group.

After an early scare, in which the hosts threatened through Hristo Yovov, Barca took the lead on five minutes. Gianluca Zambrotta’s cross was not properly cleared and Frenchman Giuly arrived in the box to hammer home from ten metres.

It was a far from convincing performance from the Spanish champions, and Levski had further chances when Angelov went close and veteran midfielder Daniel Borimirov saw a superb effort fly just wide of Victor Valdes’ goal.

After Icelandic forward Eidur Gudjohnsen failed to make the best of two good chances, Deco created the clinching goal for Andres Iniesta. The former Porto man embarked on a thrusting run at the heart of the Levski defence and unleashed a powerful shot, and Iniesta tapped in the rebound after Petkov’s save.

Los Cules now host Bremen at the Camp Nou in two weeks time and must win to stay in the competition.

Barca manager Frank Rijkaard remains confident that his team will get the job done: “I am optimistic about the game against Bremen. Now we have no alternative but to beat them and I am sure that we will.”

Meanwhile, midfielder Thiago Motta underlined the importance of the Bremen clash: “This game is more important than a final and we have to carry on playing like we did tonight. We have a lot of players who weren’t here like Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi because of injury and the players who have come in are working hard to make sure they are not missed.”

Levski Sofia:
Petkov, Milanov, Topuzakov, Tomasic, Wagner, Borimirov, Eromiogbe, Angelov (Telkiiski, 57), Domovchiyski (Ivanov, 57), Bardon, Yovov (Ognyanov, 72)
Yellow Cards: Milanov (25), Borimirov (55)

Barcelona:
Victor Valdes, Zambrotta, Sylvinho, Puyol, Marquez (Oleguer, 63), Motta, Deco, Iniesta (Ezquerro, 83), Giuly (Xavi, 58), Ronaldinho, Gudjohnsen
Yellow Cards: None

Goals:
[0-1] Giuly, 5
[0-2] Iniesta, 65