Bender devastated after collapse against Barcelona

Bayer Leverkusen captain Lars Bender feels his side should have held out for a "sensational" win over Barcelona on Tuesday after they surrendered a lead to lose 2-1.

Roger Schmidt's men were 10 minutes away from a famous triumph over the holders in Group E after Kyriakos Papadopoulos broke the deadlock midway through the first half.

But Sergi Roberto netted an 80th-minute equaliser and two minutes later Luis Suarez snatched victory for the hosts, who were without injured talisman Lionel Messi and saw skipper Andres Iniesta limp off with a hamstring injury.

Bender could not hide his disappointment and feels his side should have secured the three points before Luis Enrique's men drew level.

"We could have scored the second, but we didn’t. We have been close to causing a sensation tonight," Bender told reporters.

"They have a lot of quality in their team and we couldn’t defend against all the chances they created.

"It is very disappointing for us to concede two goals in such a short time in the final stages of the game."

Christoph Kramer echoed his team-mate's thoughts and reflected on Javier Hernandez's scoring chance that might have made the points safe.

“We should have beaten Barcelona. It’s very disappointing that we leave empty-handed. Chicharito had a great to chance to make it 2-0.”

Die Werkself are now second in Group E following Bate Borisov's 3-2 victory over Roma.