Barca beat Rangers to edge closer
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona edged closer to the last 16 of the Champions League after a comfortable 2-0 Group E victory over Rangers at the Nou Camp — the Scottish side’s first defeat in the competition.
Barca’s goals came at either end of the first half, with Thierry Henry opening the scoring early on and Lionel Messi then doubling the lead in the 43rd minute.
The home side had a host of chances to increase their advantage, but a mixture of poor finishing and superb goalkeeping by Allan McGregor kept the scoreline down.
Rangers were unbeaten in all seven of their European matches heading into this contest, but that record came to a disappointing end.
However, there were just five minutes on the clock when Henry slid in to notch his 44th Champions League goal after Messi had headed Ronaldinho’s deep ball to the far post back across McGregor.
Barca went 2-0 ahead just before the break. Ronaldinho and Messi played a clever one-two on the edge of the box and although the Brazilian’s effort was saved by McGregor, Messi was on hand to turn home the loose ball.
Barca continued to make all the running after the break, and Xavi saw two shots go just wide while Messi and Henry were both denied by McGregor.
The result leaves Rangers still second in Group E on seven points, but third-placed Lyon are now just a point behind following their 4-2 win over Stuttgart. E-mail to a friend
