It was a case of much ado about nothing last night at the Etihad stadium in Manchester as Barcelona swept the Blues away with a convincing 0-2 performance that more or less sentences the second leg of the Champions League last 16 clash at the Camp Nou.
There was controversy too. Pellegrini accused the referee of conditioning the game and City had Martín Demichelis sent off for bringing down Messi on the edge of the area. Messi stepped up to the spot and gave keeper Joe Hart no chance and with City down to 10 men, it was just a matter of time before Alves sentenced the game with a 2 nil scoreline.
the first half was pretty even although Barcelona had much of the ball possession as is customary. It took Messi’s penalty in the 54th minute to undo the Citizens and pave the Catalan giants’ way into the next round. City were well poised to soak up all the pressure from Barça and catch them out on the break until the Argentine capitalised on a mistake by Demichelis early in the second half. Replays suggest that Demichelis made contact just outside the box.
Manchester City pressed on bravely but with ten men on the pitch, it was a matter of time before they were picked off again, this time by Alves who nutmegged Hart in the last minutes of the match.
City had lots of chances throughout the match and will regret not netting a single one of them. Valdés was sublime as usual and kept the Catalans goal with a clean sheet. The game turned a bit nasty too, with tackles going in heavily from both sides with Mascherano and Alves being the main culprits for Barça.
City, however, may have had a stroke of luck as Gerard Pique had a late goal ruled out for a marginal offside. Then City’s Edin Dzeko pounced on a late chance but was harshly penalised for a foul.
That sets up the return leg in Catalonia in favour of Barcelona. City tried to step up to the mark and take on the best in the world but failed miserably.
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Valora en Bitacoras.com: It was a clear case of “much ado about nothing” last night at the Etihad as Barcelona steamrollered City by 2 goals to nil in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash. Goals came from Messi and Alves after the ho…