Barcelona played out a tame 1-1 draw with a misfiring Lyon at Stade de Gerland in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday. Attacking midfielder Juninho opened the scoring on seven minutes, and Thierry Henry canceled out Lyon's slender lead 22 minutes after the interval. Brazilian veteran Juninho put Lyon ahead after inadvertently converting a left-flank free-kick, while keeper Victor Valdes was a mere bystander. The hosts got the upper hand after taking the lead, and had a couple of chances shortly after. French Hitman Karim Benzema came close one minute later, but he missed the target. On 10 minutes, Juninho tried to score from anther free-kick, but his efforts was blocked by the wall. Later on, Argentine ace Lionel Messi tried his luck, but his free-kick was competently denied by goalie Hugo Lloris. On 14 minutes, Samuel Eto'o was close to brining the score level, but the post prevented him. Barcelona exerted relative dominance over their opponents on the quarter hour mark. In return, the home side got several opportunities but to no avail.
The game then turned into an eventful affair, with both sides carving out a multitude of chances. Benzema's Threat Benzema, who posed a great deal of threat on Barca, was about to score a second for Lyon, but he hit the post instead. The 21-year-old made another attempt on 37 minutes, but Valdes successfully saved it. After the restart, Josep Guardiola's side tried to step up the tempo, while Benzema remained dangerous upfront. As in the first period, the referee signaled for numerous free-kicks as a result of harsh challenges from for both teams. Seven minutes after the hour mark, Henry hit the leveler for Barcelona with a diving header after connecting with Rafael Marquez's headed attempt. The French side sought to regain the lead and pulled themselves together quickly, trying to cope with attack-minded Barcelona. But Lyon, who were noticeably wasteful, couldn't convert a handful of clear-cut opportunities. Kim Kallstrom tried to feed Benzema, who could have gone one-on-one with Valdes, but the Swedish midfielder's through was easy to collect by the Barcelona guardian.
