CITY DUMPED OUT OF EUROPE AND SHOULD HAVE NO COMPLAINTS
D. Ray Morton, 13th March 2014.
Barcelona have booked their way into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-1 home win at Camp Nou against Manchester City last night which gave them a 4-1 aggregate victory over the two legs. City now only have the Premier League to play for after being unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup by Wigan Athletic last weekend.
Barcelona opted to field a side that would focus on possession and this was seen in the omission of Pedro and Alexis Sanchez from the starting line-up. Neymar, Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi was the front line listed on the teamsheet with Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta operating in midfield. This selection was enough to bring about confusion in any opponent as it was hard to determine where Messi and Fabregas would position themselves on the pitch. Was Fabregas set to play in the false 9 role pushing Messi out on the right where he played in his formative years? In the end, it appeared Messi was simply everywhere, given complete tactical freedom and tormenting the visitors.
With Martin Demichelis suspended after his first leg sending off, Manuel Pellegrini opted to play Joleon Lescott at the heart of his defence alongside Vincent Kompany. Sergio Aguero was played as a lone striker, City hoping to catch Barca on the counter attack on the huge Camp Nou surface.
Both sides shared chances in the first half as the Catalans, predictably, kept most of the ball. Messi came close after 12 minutes when his mazy dribble led him into the City penalty area where they were just about able to get enough bodies back to prevent the Argentine from opening the scoring. Neymar also came close six minutes before the break by turning gracefully past Aleksandar Kolarov but shot wide. Samir Nasri had City's best opportunity of the half two minutes later but was only able to fire straight at Victor Valdes. HT 0-0.
Aguero must have been frustrated with his first half supply. As revealed by FourFourTwo he only received five passes during the entire first forty-five minutes. Replaced by Edin Dzeko at half-time stirring fitness worries, City could be without Aguero again for part of their Premier League title run-in. Barcelona's game plan appeared to be working to perfection as City simply racked up foul after foul and couldn't build anything of note.
The second half began with Messi hitting the post on 50 minutes with Dzeko's header forcing a marvelous save from Valdes down the other end only a minute later. Their long-term goalkeeper, who has announced his departure at the end of the season will be sorely missed.
Especially considering their replacement, Borussia MGB's Marc-Andre ter Stegen, is capable of this:
"Keeper sweeper" indeed.
On 67 minutes, Barca finally got their breakthrough via, who else, but Lionel Messi. Fed in by Fabregas, who actually played in more of a classic No. 10 role, the little Argentine dinked it over the on-rushing Joe Hart with glee. Hart, to his credit, looked fired up throughout and pulled off some fine saves but to no avail. Alongside the battling Vincent Kompany, he was amongst City's better players on the night.
On 78 minutes, Pablo Zabaleta picked up a second yellow card and was given his marching orders seconds after what looked like a clear-cut City penalty when Gerard Pique took down Dzeko. City were unfortunate in this regard and captain Kompany made his feelings clear about this in his post-match interview but they shouldn't overlook the fact that Lescott clearly fouled Messi inside the penalty area in the first half. Messi, a class act, didn't make a meal of it at the time.
With a minute of normal time remaining, City managed to equalise to make it 1-1 on the night when Kompany managed to turn in after a goalmouth scramble where some bodies had been in offside positions. During the confusion, the big Belgian did stay onside as the replay proved. That consolation goal was undone two minutes later however, as Daniel Alves, like he did in the first leg, stole down the right, receiving Iniesta's pass and getting on the scoresheet to put the final nail in City's coffin.
It was a game charged with emotion for City. The underlying feeling might be that their Premier League assault is slipping away from them, even with their three games in hand to catch up, and that doing well in the Champions League offered something that could console them were they to surrender the title to Chelsea or even Liverpool. Barcelona were by far the better side over the two legs however and much work is needed to turn City's billion dollar project into a legitimate European success story. One would wonder how safe Pellegrini's job is were he not to add to their Capital One Cup win this season.
Player Ratings
Barcelona
Valdes 7.5; Dani Alves 8.0, Pique 7.0, Mascherano 7.0, Jordi Alba 7.0; Busquets 7.0, Xavi 7.0, Iniesta 7.5; Messi* 8.5, Fabregas 8.0, Neymar 7.0 Subs: Alexis Sanchez -, Sergi Roberto -.
Man City
Hart 7.5; Zabaleta 6.5, Kompany 8.0, Lescott 5.5, Kolarov 6.5; Milner 6.0, Nasri 6.0, Fernandinho 6.0, Silva 5.5, Toure 6.5; Aguero 5.5 Subs: Dzeko 6.5, Negredo -.
* = man of the match
