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Paris Saint-Germain’s Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring a goal during the Champions League round of 16 match against Chelsea in Paris.
DPA/Madrid
Bayern Munich managed to battle out a 0-0 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk Tuesday in a cautious Champions League round of 16 first leg.
The 2013 champions came away with the draw despite having veteran midfielder Xabi Alonso sent off 25 minutes from time. The match was played in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv because of unrest in Donetsk.
In Tuesday’s other first leg, 2012 winners Chelsea managed to escape with a 1-1 draw at Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern dominated possession from start to finish but lacked penetration in attack. The only clear chance they managed to create was when Thomas Mueller turned a good centre from Franck Ribery over the bar on the half hour.
Shakhtar, meanwhile, were content to defend in depth and play on the break. However, tournament top scorer Luiz Adriano was badly starved of service.
Alonso foolishly got himself sent off for a second yellow card for pulling down Taison, one of Shakhtar’s six Brazilian players.
However, Bayern managed to play out time without too many scares.
“This is not a bad result really for either saide,” said Taison.
“We have not conceded an away goal so we still have our options intact ... Maybe we should have attacked them a little more when they went down to 10 men, but it wasn’t easy to do that because they kept possession very well.”
The game in Paris was far more eventful than the one in Lviv, with PSG in the driver’s seat but unable to convert most of their openings.
Branislav Ivanovic headed Chelsea into the lead in the 36th minute after a clever move with fellow defenders Gary Cahill and John Terry.
Cavani on target
Edinson Cavani levelled for PSG nine minutes into the second half by heading in a clever centre from Blaise Matuidi, with Cahill guilty of ball-watching.
Cavani then came close to making it 2-1 with a low drive, and Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois did well to keep out a late header from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Coach Jose Mourinho’s selection of Courtois ahead of 2012 Champions-winning hero Petr Cech now looks like a wise decision, after the Belgian turned in an authoritative display in the Parc des Princes.
“We could have lost, so I think the result is a positive one. I don’t say very good because it depends on the result of the second leg but it is a positive result against a very good team with fantastic technical players. It was a difficult match,” said Mourinho.
“I am happy with the result because two legs is now one leg with everything to be decided at Stamford Bridge.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea scorer Ivanovic said: “We deserved the positive result. It was a great flick from Gary Cahill and I naturally go forward to try and get the goal. We have great defenders who always try to go for the goal and defend for the team, but I think everyone did well today.
“PSG had three proper strikers play the game and it was very difficult to close everything down. Thibaut Courtois made amazing saves. At the moment we don’t know which of our goalkeepers (is better),” Ivanovic said. “They are both fantastic, and it is a great feeling to have someone behind you who is doing something special.”
And PSG defender David Luiz said: “Without their goalkeeper (Courtois) we would have won this game. He was great. We did well. They got one goal from one opportunity, but I think we can go through over there.”
The second legs will be played March 11 in Munich and London, respectively.
Results
At Paris
Paris Saint Germain (FRA) 1 (Cavani 54) Chelsea (ENG) 1 (Ivanovic 36)
At Lviv, Ukraine
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 0 Bayern Munich (GER) 0
Second legs on March 11
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