Treble winners Barcelona came from a goal down after 80 minutes to beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Camp Nou with late goals from Sergi Roberto and Luis Suarez.
The German side can feel hard done too for they impressed for much of the Group E game, unlike the reigning Uefa Champions League holders, who appeared disjointed without the injured Lionel Messi, the Argentine forward expected to be out for 6-8 weeks.
Barca had crushed the Germans 10-2 on aggregate when they last met in the round of 16 in the Champions League in 2012, with Messi becoming the first player to score five in a Champions League match in the 7-1 first leg.
The teams had met twice before in the competition with the Catalan club winning all four games home and away. They’d not had the history all their own way, though. In 1988, Bayer knocked Barca out of the Uefa Cup semi-final en-route to beating their city rivals Espanyol in the final and they came close to repeating that scoreline.
Even without Messi, who arrived on crutches 90 minutes before kick-off, Barcelona were clear favourites, yet they were hit by the finest side to come to Camp Nou so far this season.
The Germans were sharp and tactically adept in the opening period, pressing their opponents and denying them the opportunities that their possession usually warrants.
Captain Lars Bender and his central midfield foil Cristoph Kramer performed with intensity, while Javier Hernandez constantly searched for space to meet their forward balls as Leverkusen created eight chances to the Catalans four.
Barca had early chances through Ivan Rakitic and Sandro Ramirez, in for Messi, in the first 10 minutes, before Kevin Kampl shot on 18 minutes for the side who’ve lost three of their seven Bundesliga matches.
They deserved their shock 21st minute lead when a corner was swung in. Jeremy Mathieu, playing out of position at left-back, didn’t jump allowing Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos to head in from close range past Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The German goalkeeper has faced scrutiny for his mistakes this season and he was admonished by Luis Suarez for the blunder.
Backed by 1,500 fans in a 68,694 crowd, Roger Schmidt’s side continued to pick holes in the home defence, with Karim Bellarabi’s 36th minute shot testing Ter Stegen after he’d twisted past Gerard Pique.
At the other end, Neymar was booked for simulation. In the 37th minute, he cut inside the box and saw his shot deflected onto post, while Sandro’s follow up from close range was superbly blocked by Papadopoulos on the line. Leverkusen held their lead into half-time.
Leverkusen should have made it two in the 49th minute when Bellarabi crossed for Hernandez, but the former Manchester United man squandered the chance shooting over the bar before he was substituted on 55 minutes.
Andres Iniesta followed him off the pitch on the hour as Jordi Alba was introduced to bring Barca some much-needed width. Iniesta punched the cushion on the bench in frustration.
Barca looked to be heading for defeat until Sergi Roberto finally broke the Germans’ resistance. Suarez swept Alba’s cross towards goal and goalkeeper Bernd Leno could only palm it into the path of the Barça substitute. Camp Nou exploded in noise as the home team pushed for a winner.
It came with two minutes when another substitute, Munir El Haddadi, weaved into the box and passed back to Suarez, who curled a shot into the top corner. Camp Nou celebrated once again and finally began to enjoy the night, with fans singing for their absent hero Messi. They missed him and other departed or injured players — and how Leverkusen exploited those deficiencies.
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