Barcelona didn’t play like champions again against Russian side Rubin Kazan. For the second time in the group stage, the Russians came through and denied the marvelous Barcelona side three points in a key Champions League matchup.
It was the same story as with their first group stage match, a 2-1 Kazan win in Barcelona. The defending champions out-shot the underdogs, they out-possesed them and even after they should have learned they lesson last time, they looked quite sloppy at times. Kazan even had a brilliant chance to score late in the second half after a poor defensive effort, but goaltender Victor Valdes saved the day and then the Kazan player couldn’t deposit the loose ball.
In the end, nobody could put one past the other side’s great goaltenders and the match was a 0-0 draw, leaving both teams even at six points in the group, one behind Inter Milan. If Barca continues to play with the lack of vigor it did here, we may see the defending champs fail to advance to the quarterfinals.