Barcelona qualified for the knockout stages as winners of Group C after beating Sporting Lisbon 5-2.
Spanish qualify as Group C winners
Barcelona secured their passage through to the the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as winners of Group C after beating Sporting Lisbon 5-2 at Estadio Jose Avalade.
The Spanish giants made easy work of their Portuguese opponents to qualify top of the group with one game still to come.
Barca boss Pep Guardiola announced a full-strength attacking line-up in Portugal with Lionel Messi named up front after being rested during the Primera Liga leaders' recent 1-1 draw with Getafe.
Thierry Henry was also handed a start for the Spanish giants who made clear their intentions of securing passage through to the knockout stages as winners of Group C.
Control
In control from kick-off, Barca's first real chance came inside 10 minutes as Messi was brought down 30 yards out in a clumsy double-challenge. Skipper Xavi stepped up but his swooping shot hit the crossbar.
In a matter of minutes, though, the Spanish made certain of a strong start in Lisbon when Messi broke on the right to meet Henry with a perfectly-timed pass. The Frenchman merely had to tap home after breaking clear of Grimi to give the visitors a deserved lead.
Defensive errors played a part in the opening goal and again Sporting came a cropper within minutes of falling behind. Eidur Gudjohnsen picked up from a corner on the left and somewhat unintentionally shouldered the ball down to Anderson Polga, who, under pressure from Gerard Pique, stumbled the ball into the back of his own net to give Barca a 2-0 lead.
Seeming a stroll in the park for the Liga leaders, Guardiola's side completely dominated the first half. The Spanish three-prong attack of Henry, Messi and Alexander Hleb were nothing short of overpowering against a Sporting defence who looked particularly weak down the flanks.
Equally devoid of ideas in attack, Liedson, who appeared to be the only player getting anything close to the Spanish goal, just could not get his timing right and was flagged for offside four times in the opening 45-minutes without creating any real threat.
Changes
Sporting manager Paulo Bento made a rather expected change at half-time, bringing Derlei on for Leandro Romagnoli who had barely figured in the first half.
Any intentions of a comeback, though, were quickly quashed as Barca took a three-goal lead in rather controversial fashion.
Referee Matteo Trefoloni penalised Anderson Polga for an obvious handball 20 yards out, awarding the Spanish giants a free-kick in a dangerous position. Daniel Alves wasted no time in slotting the ball through to Messi amidst a beleaguered Sporting defence who were still reacting to the referee's decision.
Sporting pulled one back just minutes later through Miguel Veloso as Trefoloni awarded another controversial free-kick. Marquez was penalised after an unintentional handball as Veloso stepped up and left-footed curled the ball into the top right corner.
Drama
And the drama continued when the home side netted their second goal, this time through Liedson, who, for the first time in the game timed his run to perfection after picking up on an initial error by Rafael Marquez.
But after what seemed a remarkable comeback Barca quickly put the game to bed in an embarrassing spell for Sporting. Marco Caneira made certain of a second own goal for the Portuguese side after dramatically netting at the wrong end when under minimum pressure from Pedrito.
And minutes later Sporting were forced to make dramatic changes as keeper Rui Patricio was sent off following a clumsy challenge on second-half substitute Bojan. The 18-year-old stepped up for the penalty kick and, despite sending substitute keeper Tiago the right way, managed to slot the ball into the corner.
| Sporting Lisbon |
Team Statistics |
Barcelona |
| 2 |
Goals |
5 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 1 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 0 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 3 |
Corners |
3 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 11 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 74.6 |
Passing Success |
85.4 |
| 28 |
Tackles |
21 |
| 67.9 |
Tackles Success |
85.7 |
| 37.8 |
Possession |
62.2 |
| 44.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
55.1 |
|
