Stuttgart vs. Barcelona: Five Points of Observation and Three Talking Points

This article is coming a few days after the game. For the first time in a while, a German team finally displayed their attacking potential on the big stage.

Three talking points

1 . The first one concerns Pique's handball in the six yard box in the first half. Should the referee have given a penalty? It might have been a harsh decision to give it. Had he given it though, Barca might not have escaped with a draw and hold the advantage for the second leg.

It might also have been the right decision if Pique did indeed do it deliberately.

2 . The second one concerns Christian Molinaro's handball in front of goal in the second half. The defender used his hand as he was playing as a keeper then. Jens Lehman had gone off and was returning to goal. Should the referee have given the penalty?

The referee perhaps did not give it to even out matters following the decision to not give Stuttgart the penalty in the first half. Many referees would give Barca a penalty. However, it would be tough on Stuttgart due to their hard work.

3. Should Sami Khedira have been sent off in the dying minutes of the game for his challenge on Lionel Messi? Barcelona were about to counter attack through Messi in the closing seconds. Beaten for pace, Sami Khedira knew there was only one way to stop the Argentine. He pulled back Messi and received a yellow card.

Initially, the referee had taken out a red card but decided to give the yellow. The decision was perhaps the correct one.

Five Observations

1. The best player on the field on the night was Sami Khedira. He pounced on every loose ball and set up his team mates from the middle of the park.

Jeronimo Cacau comes a close second alongside Pavel Pogrebnyak for their wonderful attacking play.

Aliaksandr Hleb also played well, but misplaced a few passes here and there. In the first half, he gave away a ball that could have easily resulted in a Barca goal.

2 . Serdar Tasci had a night to remember. The young German defender marshalled the defence brilliantly alongside captain Matthieu Delpierre.

3 . Zlatan Ibrahimovic has to improve his attitude. He pushed Cacau in the seond half which could have easily been a card. He should have been shown a red for his nasty attitude.

4 . Jens Lehmaan was lucky not to have conceded on more than one occasion. He parried a Messi shot in the first half. Luckily for him, the shot didn't go into goal but hit the post and saved his post.

In the second half, he launched a kung-fu kick to get the ball off Carles Puyol. Had he hit Puyol, he would have surely been sent off. Molinaro had to bail him out when he went flying to stop a Barca cross in the second half.

5 . Stuttgart played brilliant one touch football. Barcelona had probably not expected Stuttgart to play at such a high tempo. Bayern could learn from teams such as Stuttgart and Bremen.

Christian Gross proved to be a brilliant manager by teaching his side to do so and giving them the confidence to do so.

However, their inability to finish off their chances will undoubtedly haunt them in the return leg.

The second leg is in the second week of March at the Nou Camp. Stuttgart have done enough to give them a decent chance in the second leg. Barcelona will inevitably go through, but, in my opinion, Stuttgart has that small chance to beat the holders to the finish line.

What do you think of the talking points and observations? Your comments are definitely welcome.