Barcelona vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Winners and Losers from Champions League Game
Barcelona left it late, but two goals within a minute of each other gave them a 2-1 comeback victory at home against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League group stage on Tuesday night.
An end-to-end first half was frantic from the start, and B04 deserved their opener, with Kyriakos Papadopoulos heading home a corner at the near post. Javier Hernandez missed a great chance to double the lead just into the second half, but Sergi Roberto and then Luis Suarez scored in the final 10 minutes to give Barca the three points instead.
Here are all our winners and losers from the Camp Nou.
Winners: Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Jonathan Tah
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Bayer Leverkusen's two central defenders were monstrous throughout.
Jonathan Tah used his strength and sheer size to run attackers off the ball, was quick to step out and shut down shooting opportunities and made a number of clearances in the second half when Barcelona continually put balls into the box.
Alongside him, Papadopoulos was similarly excellent throughout, having already headed in the opening goal at the other end.
The duo are a fantastic partnership, complementing each others' best attributes at times, and both have plenty of time and room to progress further.
Losers: Both German Goalkeepers
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There was an intriguing subplot for the German national team in this game, with Bernd Leno and Marc-Andre ter Stegen both touted as potential internationals from their very early days.
The latter has gone on to be a full international, but neither has found the consistency at the highest level needed to seriously challenge Manuel Neuer or even make a compelling case to be the absolutely guaranteed No. 2.
Their performances at the Camp Nou perhaps showed glimpses why. Ter Stegen, who has been criticised this season for several performances, failed to reach a near-post corner which was headed in for the first goal, while Leno could only parry a shot which then slipped through his legs, allowing Barcelona to finally net the equaliser.
Both have great traits, but both have concentration and consistency issues, too.
Winner: Luis Suarez
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Barcelona needed one of their attackers to come up big in the game, and it turned out to be Luis Suarez.
With Messi out, Pedro sold and only Munir and/or Sandro to call upon to play alongside the remaining usual front two, Suarez stepped up to net both goals at the weekend against Las Palmas and then repeated the trick with another strike to win this match right when it mattered.
The quality of his winning goal aside, Barcelona's best spells in the match came when Suarez was involved in fast buildup play and had runners moving around him to pass to.
Loser: Sandro
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It would have been a big boost to young forward Sandro when Luis Enrique confirmed him in the starting XI in the Champions League for the first time ever, especially after it was Munir who got the early nod to replace Lionel Messi at the weekend.
Sandro barely had any impact, however, not really linking up with his team-mates and certainly getting very little chance to come into the centre after starting on the right side.
Munir came off the bench to replace Sandro and by contrast ended up setting up the winner with some good footwork and a nice pass to Suarez.
Loser: Barcelona Injury List
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Yes, it's still growing.
Claudio Bravo was already missing, Rafinha joined him two weeks ago and Lionel Messi injured his knee at the weekend. During the game on Tuesday, Andres Iniesta found it was his turn to suffer at the hands of some vengeful Catalan-based fitness god, as he limped off the field early in the second half.
Luis Enrique will be desperately hoping his captain isn't sidelined for any significant length of time. Midfield and final-third options are now severely depleted, meaning that Barcelona had to switch formations midway through the game against Leverkusen.
