Awaits Barca

Barcelona, Feb. 18: Despite an iron grip on domestic trophies, Barcelona have been haunted by their recent failures in the Champions League and there are concerning signs for the Catalans as they prepare for Tuesday’s last- 16 first leg away to Olympique Lyonnais.

Ernesto Valverde’s side fly to France after an uninspiring 1- 0 win at home to struggling Real Valladolid on Saturday which consolidated their lead at the top of La Liga but left plenty of doubts about their capabilities of winning Europe’s top prize.

The drab victory over Valladolid, in which Lionel Messi scored a penalty and missed one, followed a goalless stalemate at Athletic Bilbao, a 22 draw with Valencia and a 1- 1 draw with Real Madrid in a Copa del Rey semi- final first leg.

Coach Ernesto Valverde has ● played down the significance of his side’s recent slack displays.

“Sometimes you cannot be brilliant in every game, but I think the team are ready to play at their very best,” he said.

Barca have fallen at the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League each year since last winning it in 2015, suffering a particularly humiliating elimination to AS Roma last season after taking a 4- 1 lead in the first leg of the tie.

They have looked on enviously as Real Madrid have won the last three editions of the big eared trophy, swelling their total number of European Cups to 13, which makes Barca’s five look measly by comparison.

Barca have fallen at the quarter- final stage of the Champions League each year since last winning it in 2015, suffering a particularly humiliating elimination to AS Roma last season after taking a 4- 1 lead in the first leg of the tie

BAYERN CARRYING GERMAN HOPES

Bayern Munich head to Liverpool for Tuesday’s crunch tie at Anfield d e m a n d i n g improvements and shouldering Germany’s flagging hopes of having a club in the quarterfinals.

Since the 2005- 06 least one German always made it to eight.

That proud run will be under threat if Bayern suffer a heavy defeat in the last- 16 first leg ahead of the return game on March 13.

“You can’t make mistakes in these games, but I think we can cause Liverpool problems,” said Bayern midfielder James Rodriguez.

“We have a team that’s good enough to go through, if it goes well.”

Yet confidence in Bayern’s chances at Anfield dipped on Friday when they twice needed to come from behind for a 3- 2 win at Bundesliga strugglers Augsburg, where Rodriguez was substituted after an ineffective 56 minutes.

Despite sitting just above the relegation places, Augsburg were the latest Bundesliga team to expose Bayern’s weaknesses defending against quick counterattacks.

Any Liverpool fan who watched Bayern struggle at Augsburg would have cause for optimism as the Bavarians’ defence creaked in dramatic fashion. season, at side has the last