Champions League: Bayer Leverkusen 1 Barcelona 3

Barcelona moved closer to the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in their round-of-16 first-leg clash on Tuesday.

Home side Leverkusen did well to limit the Catalans’ opportunities in the first half at BayArena, but Alexis Sanchez broke the deadlock on 41 minutes to give the champions a crucial edge at the interval.

Leverkusen responded positively after the break, and drew level through Michal Kadlec, but Sanchez restored Barca’s lead in the 55th minute.

Lionel Messi scored a critical third for the Catalans late on, leaving Leverkusen with a mountain to climb on their trip to Camp Nou.

The hosts were content to sit back and defend early on, as Barca took the majority of possession in the first half.

But for all their time on the ball, the visitors found it difficult to break down their opponents, who rarely ventured out of their defending half.

Play opened up for Barca on 13 minutes as Sanchez found space on the right to send a low cross towards Messi, but Daniel Schwaab was alert to the danger and made a sliding intervention to concede a corner.

The visitors looked likely to head to the interval frustrated, but with four minutes left to play in the opening half, they found a chance to counter-attack and took the opportunity clinically.

Messi was the provider for Sanchez as the Argentine floated a lovely ball over the top, and his team-mate coolly slotted his finish into the lower-left corner of the net.

In need of a goal, Leverkusen played far more positively in the second half, and were rewarded on 52 minutes as Kadlec rose to nod Vedran Corluka’s cross into Victor Valdes’ net.

The sides would only remain level for three minutes, however. At the other end, Cesc Fabregas threaded a well-weighted ball to Sanchez, who rounded Bernd Leno before sliding home to restore the visitors’ lead.

The German side again responded aggressively, and came within an inch of restoring parity for a second time. Renato Augusto tested Valdes’ once before playing in Gonzalo Castro, who had his low shot tipped onto the post by the goalkeeper in the 64th minute.

Barca soon regained their composure in defence, and almost made it 3-1 thanks to a flash of brilliance from Messi with 18 minutes to play.

The talismanic forward beat two defenders near the by-line before chipping Leno, but his shot clanged off the post.

Both sides had chances for late goals, with substitute Stefan Kiessling’s header forcing a good save from Valdes before Sanchez was denied his hat-trick as Leno made a spectacular diving stop.

But Messi put the result beyond doubt with two minutes to play as he extended his leg to redirect Dani Alves’ cross into the net.

The result sees Barcelona take a two-goal lead into the second leg of the fixture, which will be played at Camp Nou on March 7.