Champions League action today! 2/14/12.

We had Lyon v.s. APOEL and Leverkusen v.s. Barcelona today with the two sides who were expected to win winning two different ways. In France, Lyon edged their Cypriot guests 1-0 thanks to Alexandre Lacazette's 58th minute lucky goal. The players of APOEL kept it together very nicely as they held the French giants goalless through the 1st half before Cris found Lacazette inside. After taking a serious deflection from Paulo Jorge, Dionisios Chiotis could only watch as the ball flew over his head and into the goal. The fact that Lyon could not increase their lead bodes well for the Cypriot side when they play the second leg at home: I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to turn things around here. Their defense has been solid while their offense has done its job when it has mattered. Now then, over to Barca's match with Leverkusen now where the Spanish visitors controlled 78% of possession in the 1st half while only managing 1 goal. Admittedly though Alexis Sanchez's 41st minute strike was well-deserved and the Catalan side needed nothing more as they defeated their German hosts 1-3. Michael Kadlec gave the Spaniards something to think about though, and the Germans something to fight for as he slotted home in the 52nd minute from a beautiful cross by Vedran Corluka which he headed past Victor Valdes. The crowd literally went wild. Alexis Sanchez responded quickly enough though, toying with the Leverkusen defense after an incisive ball from Barca's workhorse Cesc Fabregas found him in space. He went around Bayer's goalkeeper Bernd Leno before passing the ball into the back of the net. Despite the 2nd goal, Leverkusen stayed active in the game, pressuring Barcelona and Valdes a handful of times. Nevertheless, things seemed to be winding down before Lionel Messi decided he wanted a goal from the match. Daniel Alves teed up Messi for a shot that the virtuoso never misses. Hope you enjoyed the matches!