One of the last 16 Champions League ties being played on Tuesday night was the match between Manchester City and Barcelona. City made it to this part of the Champions League for the first time last year and played against the same opponents they saw themselves in this match. City were without one of their most influential players in Yaya Toure, and as Barcelona are slowly reaching their best again, it looked like it could be a long night for the English champions.
The game started with Barcelona having a lot of early possession but nothing much came of it. A few long balls were drifted in towards the City goal but Joe Hart was there to collect it without much difficulty. The first real chance of the game came from City though when James Milner set up Edin Dzeko on the volley, but the shot is blocked meaning the ball is given back to the visitors. City kept up the pressure on their opponents after Sergio Aguero is fouled in a dangerous position by Javier Mascherano. The free kick from Milner is taken low which the wall easily pushed away.
The pressure from City didn't last long though and soon Barcelona were on the attack and playing their usual possession game. Luis Suarez tried to get the ball into Neymar in the box, but the ball was cleared back to him; the resulting shot could only hit the side netting. It didn't take long for him to get onto the score sheet though. 16 minutes into the game and Suarez had put Barcelona into the lead. Lionel Messi got a good cross into the box that proved to be difficult for Vincent Kompany to deal with and his headed clearance only got as far as Suarez who flashed his shot across the face of goal and into the far corner of the net. This proved to be a turning point in the half for both teams; City seemed to drop off after the goal and stopped the pressing that they had been doing since the start allowing Barcelona to play more with the ball.
A lot of good chances in quick succession went to waste in the following moments of the match. Messi in particular pulled off some brilliant skill to lose the defenders swarmed around him, but when the ball came to Suarez, he caught the volley wrong meaning the attack was cut out. Dzeko also had a good chance with a header but it bounces just wide of the post. Rakitic was also good when he came into the attacking moves, but he was caught off side after he sent his header looping up into the air towards Hart. The City defence were caught out by a simple ball played in behind them which Suarez latched onto, but Hart was alert and smothered the shot.
In the end, the pressure proved to be too much for City though. The City defenders look scared to get too close to Messi unless he is in a really dangerous position, but even then, their challenges didn't prove to be enough. He rode through the challenges with some brilliant footwork and control before passing the ball out to Jordi Alba on the left wing. The full back's cross finds Suarez in the box who managed to get his foot onto the ball and turn the ball in off the inside of the far post. The goal summed up just how dominant Barcelona were in the first half; the build up to the goal included a lot of possession without any of the City players really pushing to get the ball off their opponents.
Barcelona came close once again just before half time. Dani Alves got lucky when a clearance rebounded off the City defender and he carried on his run into the box. He was closed down by Pablo Zabaleta but not before he chipped the ball up over the defender and the keeper only to see the ball hit the top of the crossbar. City did finish the half strongly following this after Samir Nasri took on a powerful shot at the Barcelona goal, but it was aimed straight at Marc-André ter Stegen who palmed it away and Aguero couldn't quite pick up the rebound.
In the second half, Manchester City were a completely different team. They started the half extremely brightly and were pushing towards the goal from the starting whistle. They had a couple of corners at the beginning of the half which lead to Dzeko having a lot of decent chances that went to waste. The first was a header which he could only send wide of the post, followed by a second which was aimed directly at ter Stegen; if the ball had gone a yard to either side of him, City would have had their opening goal in the tie. Aguero followed this with a brilliant chance after he got away from Mascherano, however, he couldn't wrap his foot around the ball and the shot ends just wide of the post. Ter Stegen was perfectly placed to collect a lot of the chances that City had on his goal, like one that Martin Demichelis had following a free kick, but City were certainly knocking on the door now.
It took until the 69th minute for City to finally be rewarded for their second half performance. Gael Clichy strongly, but fairly, dispossessed Barcelona, knocked on the ball to Fernandinho who found the David Silva on the edge of the box. All it took was a little flick to set the ball into the path of Aguero, who with one touch that took the ball away from the defenders, and powered his shot over ter Stegen and into the back of the net. The dominance in the half was soon taken away from them though. In the 74th minute, Clichy was booked for the second time in the game for a late challenge on Alves, leaving City to play the remaining 15 minutes against a punishing team with 10 men.
Following the dismissal, Barcelona weren't completely dominant in the game again. They had a few chances to get their third goal, but the final, cutting ball just wasn't there. Alba picked out Messi in the box, but the shot wasn't powerful which allowed Kompany to deflect the shot upwards, but it still took a vital save from Hart to prevent the goal.
In the final moments of the stoppage time at the end of the game, one small slip of concentration from Zabaleta almost let the game slip away from them. Messi got into the box with the ball before a clumsy tackle from Zabaleta sent him crashing to the ground. In the tie this time last year, it was a penalty from Messi that started the game, so would he be able to finish it off in this game? The answer is, no. He steps up to the spot and aims the ball to Hart's left hand side, but he is equal to it and palms the ball away, straight onto the head of Messi. The header that followed wasn't good enough to finish off the game though and could only bounce wide of the far post.
Barcelona could still be looking like the stronger team in the tie after securing the two vital away goals in the tie, but City put in a dominant second half display meaning that the second leg at the Nou Camp could be a completely different watch to this game. No matter what though, City need two goals in the next tie to even stand a chance of getting through...
The pressure from City didn't last long though and soon Barcelona were on the attack and playing their usual possession game. Luis Suarez tried to get the ball into Neymar in the box, but the ball was cleared back to him; the resulting shot could only hit the side netting. It didn't take long for him to get onto the score sheet though. 16 minutes into the game and Suarez had put Barcelona into the lead. Lionel Messi got a good cross into the box that proved to be difficult for Vincent Kompany to deal with and his headed clearance only got as far as Suarez who flashed his shot across the face of goal and into the far corner of the net. This proved to be a turning point in the half for both teams; City seemed to drop off after the goal and stopped the pressing that they had been doing since the start allowing Barcelona to play more with the ball.
A lot of good chances in quick succession went to waste in the following moments of the match. Messi in particular pulled off some brilliant skill to lose the defenders swarmed around him, but when the ball came to Suarez, he caught the volley wrong meaning the attack was cut out. Dzeko also had a good chance with a header but it bounces just wide of the post. Rakitic was also good when he came into the attacking moves, but he was caught off side after he sent his header looping up into the air towards Hart. The City defence were caught out by a simple ball played in behind them which Suarez latched onto, but Hart was alert and smothered the shot.
In the end, the pressure proved to be too much for City though. The City defenders look scared to get too close to Messi unless he is in a really dangerous position, but even then, their challenges didn't prove to be enough. He rode through the challenges with some brilliant footwork and control before passing the ball out to Jordi Alba on the left wing. The full back's cross finds Suarez in the box who managed to get his foot onto the ball and turn the ball in off the inside of the far post. The goal summed up just how dominant Barcelona were in the first half; the build up to the goal included a lot of possession without any of the City players really pushing to get the ball off their opponents.
Barcelona came close once again just before half time. Dani Alves got lucky when a clearance rebounded off the City defender and he carried on his run into the box. He was closed down by Pablo Zabaleta but not before he chipped the ball up over the defender and the keeper only to see the ball hit the top of the crossbar. City did finish the half strongly following this after Samir Nasri took on a powerful shot at the Barcelona goal, but it was aimed straight at Marc-André ter Stegen who palmed it away and Aguero couldn't quite pick up the rebound.
In the second half, Manchester City were a completely different team. They started the half extremely brightly and were pushing towards the goal from the starting whistle. They had a couple of corners at the beginning of the half which lead to Dzeko having a lot of decent chances that went to waste. The first was a header which he could only send wide of the post, followed by a second which was aimed directly at ter Stegen; if the ball had gone a yard to either side of him, City would have had their opening goal in the tie. Aguero followed this with a brilliant chance after he got away from Mascherano, however, he couldn't wrap his foot around the ball and the shot ends just wide of the post. Ter Stegen was perfectly placed to collect a lot of the chances that City had on his goal, like one that Martin Demichelis had following a free kick, but City were certainly knocking on the door now.
It took until the 69th minute for City to finally be rewarded for their second half performance. Gael Clichy strongly, but fairly, dispossessed Barcelona, knocked on the ball to Fernandinho who found the David Silva on the edge of the box. All it took was a little flick to set the ball into the path of Aguero, who with one touch that took the ball away from the defenders, and powered his shot over ter Stegen and into the back of the net. The dominance in the half was soon taken away from them though. In the 74th minute, Clichy was booked for the second time in the game for a late challenge on Alves, leaving City to play the remaining 15 minutes against a punishing team with 10 men.
Following the dismissal, Barcelona weren't completely dominant in the game again. They had a few chances to get their third goal, but the final, cutting ball just wasn't there. Alba picked out Messi in the box, but the shot wasn't powerful which allowed Kompany to deflect the shot upwards, but it still took a vital save from Hart to prevent the goal.
In the final moments of the stoppage time at the end of the game, one small slip of concentration from Zabaleta almost let the game slip away from them. Messi got into the box with the ball before a clumsy tackle from Zabaleta sent him crashing to the ground. In the tie this time last year, it was a penalty from Messi that started the game, so would he be able to finish it off in this game? The answer is, no. He steps up to the spot and aims the ball to Hart's left hand side, but he is equal to it and palms the ball away, straight onto the head of Messi. The header that followed wasn't good enough to finish off the game though and could only bounce wide of the far post.
Barcelona could still be looking like the stronger team in the tie after securing the two vital away goals in the tie, but City put in a dominant second half display meaning that the second leg at the Nou Camp could be a completely different watch to this game. No matter what though, City need two goals in the next tie to even stand a chance of getting through...
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