Gross frustrated by Barcelona draw

Stuttgart coach Christian Gross was left to rue several missed chances as his side drew 1-1 at home to Barcelona in the Champions League last night.

The Bundesliga side led 1-0 at the break in the first leg of their second-round tie thanks to a goal from Cacau, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic levelled to give Barcelona the advantage going into the second leg at the Nou Camp.

Stuttgart, who have lost only once since Gross replaced Markus Babbel last December, caused the Champions League holders plenty of problems in the first half, cup holders plenty of problems in the first half.

Gross felt his side should have been further clear at half-time, but admitted a draw with the Spanish giants was a decent result.

"We played very well in the first half and should have scored the second goal," he said.

"If we had played like that for the whole 90 minutes, then it would have been very good.

"We allowed them very few chances and we only defended badly when they equalised.

"We had the best chances to score and (Barcelona keeper) Victor Valdes had a very good game. Overall, it is a very good result.

"There are not many clubs in the world who can get a draw against Barcelona."

Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was realistic about his side's chances of making the last eight.

"I am a bit disappointed because we could have beaten Barcelona and I would have liked to have kept a clean sheet," he told the club's website.

"Of course it's going to be even harder to cause an upset in second leg.

"If you see how well Barcelona combined at times, you know how they are going to play at home in their own stadium.

"Furthermore, their pitch is bigger than ours."