Match report: Manchester City 0-2 Barcelona
Barcelona players celebrating
Manchester was neither red nor blue, but it was the Red & Blue of the Catalan Giants, who return home with a two goal advantage leaving Pellegrini’s men in need of a wee miracle at the Camp Nou, to avoid an exit in their first ever progression to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The Blaugranas are in the driving seat of this tie, having netted two past the Sky Blues thanks to a spot-kick from Lionel Messi and a late strike from Daniel Alves. It was a night to forget for Pellegrini and his men, but they would have trouble doing the same as the dismissal of Martin Demichelis turned the game over it’s head, and the Catalans emerged victorious in what is, the first official meeting between the two.
To rub salt on the wound, referee Jonas Eriksson pointed to the spot and Messi duly caressed the ball home, to make it 7 goals in 4 Champions League outings. The numbers game handed Barca the advantage as Alves added the second when he fired home from close range to nutmeg Hart, in the dying moments of the game.
Line Ups:
Pellegrini opted to go for a 5-man midfield with David Silva at where he is best and a lone striker in Alvaro Negredo. Surprisingly, the Chilean turned to Kolarov to play on the left wing, which is believed by many that it was a move made expecting Leo Messi to start on the right wing.
City were handed a boost just a day before the clash as Fernandinho made a surprise return into the 11. While Barca boss, Tata Martino chose Iniesta over Pedro to play on the left flank which was handy to stop the counter-attacks and Cesc Fabregas who has been in scintillating form, was paired alongside Xavi Hernandez in the center of the park.
First Half:
The initial period of the game was dominated by the Blaugranas who maintained the lion’s share of possession, it seemed like City were respecting Barcelona too much. Yet the Catalans weren’t able to have a go at goal owing to the excellent defensive shape formed in the final third by Kompany, Toure and Fernandinho. This made things much easier for City to keep the Argentine captain at bay.
Andres Iniesta looked the most dangerous player in the Barca colours, with his sublime dribbling & passing. Despite the exquisite passing & pressing from the Blaugrana midfield, City created a couple of more chances and in fact had a shot more on goal than the Catalans in the first half. Spanish playmaker David Silva along with Jesus Navas managed to find Negredo in the box on more than one occasion, but were half a chances or quickly closed down by former Premier League stars, Javier Mascherano & Gerard Pique.
The fullbacks of both Barcelona & City were much more diligent in defense to everyone’s surprise as both Alba & Alves are known to make runs up front and expose the center-backs but it wasn’t the case here. The first half ended a stalemate but the control over the game was swaying from side to side and looked promising to be a cracker in the second half.
Second Half:
An eventful second half it was at the Etihad, when the Catalans gained the upper hand within 600 seconds from the kick-off. A sublime through ball from Iniesta to Messi, who timed his movement to perfection to stay onside, resulted in a 1 on 1 situation as Messi was clean through with no one but just Joe Hart. He was taken down by a prolonged challenge by fellow Argentine, Demichelis.
While there are people who argue that it’s where the tackle begins that matters, there are people who argue that the tackle was prolonged and ended inside the box. Benefit of doubt was considered as a clear-cut goal scoring opportunity was denied and the lead was taken. Barcelona tightening it’s grip on the game was then inevitable as the trio of Cesc, Xavi, Iniesta were almost toying the City midfield with their traditional Tiki-Taka.
Joining the party was Daniel Alves, who played more like a winger in the second half and looked genuinely threatening. Pellegrini reacted quickly with the introduction of Nasri & Lescott in place of Navas & Kolarov. The changes worked reasonably as the 10 men City at times didn’t look like they were a man short.
Silva tested Victor Valdes with a venomous volley but was not only stopped but collected superbly by him. The Catalan short-stopper did his job cleanly except on a couple of occasions which were set-pieces, where he looked vulnerable. Despite the controversial first goal, City did have their rub of the green, as a goal from Pique was incorrectly disallowed when Fabregas who made the pass to Pique was called offside.
The Brazilian wonder-kid Neymar came on for Alexis, who didn’t have a great game, had trouble going past Clichy and lost possession quite a few times. Neymar, coming back from an ankle injury, looked a bit sharp with his passing. He was placed on the right and thus could connect with his Brazilian counterpart Alves in a cheeky 1-2 to setup the second goal and put City’s hopes in tatters.
Pellegrini wasted no time to point the incident out as he had said in the post match interview, “Of course I have a complaint, not only for the penalty and the red card. Important mistakes against a great team like Barcelona make it difficult to win.”
However, City will have their sharpshooter Sergio Aguero back for the second leg and hence can bank on their firepower combined with an attitude of nothing to lose. They might be looking to go all out at the Camp Nou and it is never really over until the final whistle has blown in football and the stage is set for Pellegrini’s men to make history and script one of the greatest nights in European football.
Top Player (Manchester City): Vincent Kompany
Top Player (Barcelona): Andres Iniesta