Goals from Carles Puyol and Leo Messi gave Barça a deserved victory over a hard working Stuttgart team who threatened to cause an upset. Barça paid a price for the victory with injuries to Rafa Marquez and Puyol which left Barça playing with Thuram and Abidal as centre backs for the last half an hour.

 Ronaldinho returned to the starting line up which meant Andres Iniesta moved back to the defensive midfield role occupied until his injury by Toure Yaya. Gabi Milito failed a fitness test so Barça began with Rafa Marquez and Thuram in the centre of the defence while Rijkaard preferred to keep Puyol on the bench. An injury to the right calf of Rafa Marquez after just six minutes gave Rijkaard no choice but to send on Puyol. Unfortunately Puyol could not complete the game as he also suffered a muscular injury, but in his time on the pitch he managed to open the scoring to put Barça on the road to the three points.

Barça began the game well and after just five minutes Messi penetrated into the Stuttgart area before laying the ball back to Deco who shot from 20 metres against the outside of the post. Stuttgart helped by a great atmosphere in the Gottlieb Daimler stadium gave everything to try to overcome Barça’s technical superiority. Mario Gomez gave the first warning, shooting wide after nine minutes.

Barça, however, continued to dominate and Messi had two attempts on goal with no luck. Then on 24 minutes a brilliant scooped pass from Ronaldinho gave Henry a chance but his side footed volley was well saved by Schäfer the Stuttgart goalie. As the first half went on the Germans, showing great character, came more into the game. After 33 minutes a cross from the left by the impressive Boka was met with a superb header from Gomez which Valdés touched onto the bar, Gomez headed back the rebound but Valdés recovered brilliantly to get down to his left and palm the ball away. Then on the stroke of half time Gomez crossed from the right and Farnerud failed to make proper contact when he seemed certain to score, instead the ball looped off his miskick into the hands of Valdés.

The second half began with more pressure from Stuttgart who won two corners in the first couple of minutes of the half. Just when Barça were suffering most they took the lead. A corner from Xavi on 52 minutes reached Ronaldinho at the far post and his header was deflected slightly by a defender just in front of Schäfer who could not hold onto the ball, Puyol reacted first hitting the ball home from five yards out.

Barça looked more comfortable after the goal, but then came Puyol’s injury and the need to reorganize the defence. Fortunately Barça scored their second soon afterwards. Messi found Henry with a good pass and the Frenchman held off a challenge well before pulling the ball back from the by-line to Messi whose shot was again slightly deflected by a defender getting in the way of the goalkeeper and the ball found its way into the back of the net.

Barça almost made it 0-3 after an incredible move where Ronaldinho put through the overlapping Sylvinho, his cross was beautifully flicked on by Henry to Deco who ran at goal but instead of shooting backheeled the ball to Messi who shot from six yards out only to see a defender clear of the line. The applause from the crowd demonstrated the class of the move.

Bojan Krkic replaced Ronaldinho ten minutes from the end and had one great chance to become the youngest player to score in the Champions League, unfortunately Schäfer got the tiniest of touches with his hand to send the ball inches the wrong side of the post.

This was a gutsy performance from Barça and the rearranged defence did pretty well, but the clean sheet was basically due to a fine display from Victor Valdés. Ronaldinho started very well and with some typical classy touches demonstrated that he is still a player to be reckoned with. Iniesta showed his versatility playing just in front of the defence and Abidal filled in well at centre back after Puyol went off. There were also good games from Deco and Henry.

The negatives from the game were the injuries to Marquez and Puyol, and Leo Messi’s booking. Neither injury looked too serious and it was good to see Puyol smiling and joking on the bench after he was taken off. Tomorrow we should know more regarding the importance of the injuries. Leo Messi was booked near the end of the first haf for a lunging challenge after he lost the ball in midfield.

Barça now lead the group on six points, level with Glasgow Rangers who surprisingly won 0-3 against Lyon. Stuttgart and Lyon have yet to gain a point.

Barça: Valdés 7.5, Oleguer 6, Thuram 6.5, Marquez — (Puyol m7, 7 (Sylvinho m64, 6.5) ), Abidal 7; Xavi 6, Iniesta 7, Deco 7; Messi 7, Henry 7, Ronaldinho 6.5 (Bojan m81, 6.5).

Goals: m53 Puyol 0-1, m67 Messi 0-2.

Yellow Card: Messi (m41)

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