Barcelona held 1-1 by Stuttgart

Teammates congratulate Zlatan Ibrahimovic (second from left) after he scored the equaliser for Barcelona against Stuttgart during their Champions League match in Stuttgart yesterday. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Pic/AFP

Cacau, fresh from his four-goal haul against Cologne at the weekend, gave Stuttgart a deserved half-time lead but Ibrahimovic struck just after the interval to put Barca in the box seat heading into the second leg at the Nou Camp.

Barca were boosted by the return to action of Xavi Alonso and Ibrahimovic, both of whom had missed Saturday's 4-0 win over Racing Santander through injury, but neither of them had much chance to shine in the first half.

The home side, who have improved immensely under Christian Gross and had won six of their previous seven games, were determined to take the game to Barca and were rewarded when Cacau broke the deadlock in the 25th minute with a powerful header.

Barca fans might have been fearing the worst at the break, but they need not have worried as the Catalan giants looked much more comfortable in the second half.

It took Pep Guardiola's side just seven minutes to get back on level terms thanks to Ibrahimovic.

Bordeaux, meanwhile, put themselves in the driving seat to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after claiming a narrow victory in the first leg of their last-16 tie at Olympiacos.

Michael Ciani popped up with the only goal of the game on the stroke of the interval.

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