Barcelona in Trouble After Loss

Barcelona’s title hopes were hanging in the balance after a 2-0 loss to host A.C. Milan in their Champions League Round of 16 match on Wednesday.

Second-half goals by Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari left Barcelona with a huge task in the second leg after a night when Lionel Messi was not a factor for Barcelona.

Barcelona’s players were fuming about the first goal, when the ball appeared to strike the hand of Cristián Zapata before it ricocheted into the path of Boateng, who scored in the 57th minute.

There was no doubt about the second as Stephan El Shaarawy lifted the ball up for Muntari to volley past goalkeeper Victor Valdés with 10 minutes left. Barcelona dominated the first half but struggled to get past Milan’s two lines of four defenders. Milan had failed to win in seven previous games against Barcelona.

The second game in the two-game series is scheduled for March 12 in Barcelona. “It’s a bad result,” said Jordi Roura, Barcelona’s interim coach, “but I’m absolutely convinced that we can turn this around in the second leg with the support of our crowd.”

SCHALKE UNDEFEATED The German club Schalke, with a goal from the American Jermaine Jones, remained unbeaten in the Champions League this season after a 1-1 tie at the Turkish club Galatasaray.

Jones will miss the second leg of their matchup March 12 after picking up his third yellow card of the competition.