Preview: Barcelona vs. Bayer Leverkusen

Barcelona head into their Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday with all the expectations that they will win. Here, Sports Mole examines whether the German club can pull off a surprise result.

By Liam Apicella, Features Editor

Published: March 5 2012 | 18:16

Last updated: March 5 2012 | 18:20

Barcelona are strong favourites to progress through to the quarter-final of the Champions League as they lead visiting Bayer Leverkusen 3-1.

Alex Sanchez scored twice during Barca's win in Germany, but the Chilean will miss the return leg with a thigh injury.

Other than the absence of Sanchez, coach Pep Guardiola has a near fully fit squad to select from.

Visiting Leverkusen travel to Spain without an away win in the Champions League from their last 12 attempts.

Stefan Kiessling scored against Bayern Munich at the weekend and is expected to take his place in the Leverkusen starting lineup on Wednesday evening.

Current form:

Leverkusen: DWLWWW
Barcelona: WLWWWW

Leverkusen: Leno; Toprak, Friedrich, Kadlec, Schwaab; Reinartz, Bender, Kiessling, Augusto; Schurrle, Castro

Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano; Keita, Busquets, Xavi; Iniesta, Fabregas, Messi

Sports Mole says 2-0

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last updated article - 2012-03-05 18:20:15: 

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Premier League Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Barcelona	13	11	0	2	40	12	28	33
2	Real Madrid	12	8	3	1	25	11	14	27
3	Atletico Madrid Atletico	13	7	5	1	19	7	12	26
4	Villarreal	12	7	3	2	23	19	4	24
5	Osasuna	13	6	3	4	17	20	-3	21
6	Athletic Bilbao	13	5	5	3	19	13	6	20
7	Real Betis Betis	13	5	5	3	14	12	2	20
8	Real Sociedad	13	5	3	5	11	10	1	18
9	Mallorca	13	5	3	5	10	10	0	18
10	Girona Girona	13	5	3	5	16	17	-1	18
11	Celta Vigo	13	5	2	6	20	22	-2	17
12	Rayo Vallecano	12	4	4	4	13	13	0	16
13	Sevilla	13	4	3	6	12	18	-6	15
14	Leganes	13	3	5	5	13	16	-3	14
15	Getafe	14	2	7	5	10	11	-1	13
16	Alaves Alaves	13	4	1	8	14	22	-8	13
17	Las Palmas Las Palmas	13	3	3	7	16	22	-6	12
18	Espanyol	12	3	1	8	11	22	-11	10
19	Real Valladolid Valladolid	14	2	3	9	10	27	-17	9
20	Valencia	11	1	4	6	8	17	-9	7