Kiessling planning Barca assault

Stefan Kiessling insists Bayer Leverkusen will not give Barcelona an easy ride in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

The German outfit’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals appear slim at best, given that they go into Wednesdya’s game at the Camp Nou trailing 3-1 from their first meeting at the BayArena.

However, while Kiessling admits their qualification hopes appear remote, Leverkusen are determined to give a good account of themselves in Spain.

“I do not know if we have a realistic chance (of going through),” Kiessling said. “But we want to trouble Barca.”

Since losing at home to the reigning European champions, Leverkusen have racked up three successive wins in the Bundesliga, routing Augsburg, triumphing 2-0 at Cologne and then upsetting Bayern Munich by the same scoreline on Saturday.

And Robin Dutt’s men are brimming with confidence at the moment.

“First the derby win in Cologne, now at last a victory over Bayern,” Kiessling said. “It was really fun to celebrate with the fans.”

Kiessling’s fellow forward Eren Derdiyok claims Leverkusen have taken great confidence out of their three-game winning streak and that they are keen to prove against Barcelona “that Bayer can handle playing in the last 16”.

The Switzerland international also revealed that with Leverkusen now having climbed to fifth in the Bundesliga standings, they are now eyeing Schalke in fourth place.

“At first it seemed we would not even be in the Europa League, but now we can even dream of reaching the Champions League,” Derdiyok said. “This must be the goal.”

After the midweek trip to the Camp Nou, Leverkusen return to Bundesliga action away to Wolfsburg on Saturday.