Barcelona, Benfica Draw Scoreless

As FC Barcelona traveled to Portugal to meet their next rivals in the UEFA Champions League, pundits were predicting an easy time for Barca. However, after the thorough dispatching of both Manchester United and Liverpool at the hands of Benfica, many were not so sure.

SL Benfica headed into the quarter-final match without the potent Nuno Gomes, leaving coach Ronald Koeman to exhibit Geovanni in the front. To match, Barcelona were without Carles Puyol (suspended) and Edmilson and Rafael Marquez (injury). Also, Henrik Larsson would be called upon to fill in for the injured Lionel Messi.

Barcelona looked to strike early, as pressure from Samuel Eto'o led to a free kick in the early going. The kick would be denied, as would subsequent efforts by Larsson and Brazilian megastar Ronaldinho. Barca would garner two more corner kicks in the early stages, only to see Benfica use their classic couter-attack to bring shots at Victor Valdes, though Valdes was up for the challenge.

However, the goalie of the match would definitely be Marcelo Moretto, as Barcelona would continue their barrage of shots at the Benfica net. Ronaldinho orchestrated attacks on the Portuguese side's goal all throughout the match. The first half would see stops made by Moretto on Mark Van Bommel and Ronaldinho, as well as seeing opportunity squandered by both Eto'o and the Portuguese midfielder Deco.

The second half would sport a much more even match. Ronald Koeman would send Fabrizio Miccoli into the match at the half, to try to inject a scoring touch to the Portuguese side. Benfica would sport one of their best opportunities through the combination of Miccoli and Geovanni, both directing shots at Victor Valdes, who was ore than up for the challenge. Also, Simao had a crack at the net in the 79th minutes, only to be denied by Valdes.

Barcelona were ready to put some fireworks of their own on display, as their pressure and their desire to capitalize on their chances escalated. Before Benfica were able to muster any of their second half opportunities, Barcelona would brig their most intense pressure of the match. Henrik Larsson ran into the box to meet a Ronaldinho pass, which he would place unluckily of the woodwork. In the same minute, a corner kick would be delivered to Mark Van Bommel who would meet the same fate.

Some late action would see Benfica gather one more chance on the Spanish champions' net. Substitute Giorgos Karagounis was given a free kick from 25 yards out, which he would strike against the post. As well, controversy arose as Barca defender Thiago Motta seemed to handle to ball in the penalty area. No called was made. All the action in this match would be blown down soon thereafter, deciding the match as a goalless draw.

Benfica's coach Ronald Koeman was looking towards next week's return leg. The BBC quoted Koeman as saying "Barcelona have to attack more, playing in front of their fans, but if we were to play like we did in the second half we have a chance. If we go in like we did in the first half, we'll have a lot of problems." Koeman did remain optimistic. "The result of this game gives us a chance"

Reuters quoted Barcelona's coach, Frank Rijkaard, as saying "It was a shame we couldn´t score, but the team worked hard and played quite well. In the next game we're sure to score. Normally a draw away from home is a good result."

CNN interviewed some of the players after the match. Deco said "We were very sluggish in front of goal. We will need to be much sharper in the return leg." Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o said "Football is sometimes like this. We played really well but wasted far too many chances tonight...we should really have eliminated them already."

From the other side of the pitch, Geovanni said "this is not really a bad result for us...I really think we're capable of winning in Barcelona, as we did in Liverpool." Simao weighed in, claiming that the missed call late on "the really clear penalty."

The return leg of this UEFA Champions League quarter-final goes April 5th at Camp Nou in Barcelona.

[Additional Sources: BBC, Reuters, CNN]