After the first leg, it looked like Manchester City had a huge mountain to climb, based more off the performance than the actual score line. Barcelona won 2-1 at the Etihad stadium, leaving City with the task of scoring 2 goals to take them through to the quarter finals of the competition, all the while keeping the front three of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez out. Joe Hart had given his team a lifeline at the end of the first leg with a save from Messi's penalty, but would it count in this leg?
City did start brightly and were pushing forward to try and nick the ball from their opponents so that they could push forwards. However, the first chance of the game did fall to Neymar. Vincent Kompany lost the ball on the edge of the box to Dani Alves and played in Neymar, whose shot bounced off the near post and rolled along the goal line before going wide of the near post, leaving many people wondering how it didn't go in.
City didn't sit back and let Barcelona play though. Sergio Aguero got the first chance for City after he was allowed time and space on the ball and his shot eventually hit Alves before going out for a corner. The next attack was pure class from Barcelona. The players passed it among themselves with ease and the City players couldn't get close to the ball no matter how hard they tried, before Messi and Andres Iniesta played a great one-two in the box, but Messi's shot was saved by the legs of Hart.
Yaya Toure powered through the Barcelona players to get the ball into the box and onto the feet of Milner. His shot was stopped by Alves, who was off balance, but just managed to time his tackle right to prevent a possible goal. Down the other end, Messi won a free kick moments later and his shot was curling up towards the top corner, but much to Hart's relief it landed on top of the net instead of nestling inside of it. Ten minutes later, Messi was presented with a similar chance from another free kick. So similar in fact that it landed in practically the same place on top of the net as the last one had.
The game was shaping up to be a tight contest, and just after the half hour mark, Ivan Rakitic managed to give the hosts some breathing space over their opposition. Messi played a beautiful ball into the box from the right wing which took out the City defenders, and Rakitic, whose run was timed perfectly, chested the ball down and gracefully chipped the ball over the head of Hart and into the back of the net.
The rest of the first half was all about Barcelona. From a corner in the build-up to half time, Suarez was allowed into a lot of space in the box, but he could only direct his free header off target. Three minutes later, Suarez was allowed a lot of space again from Kompany and Martin Demichelis. Hart came running out of his goal to try and stop the shot, but Suarez chipped the ball over the keeper. The defender running back couldn't catch up to the ball and people supporting City let out a collective sigh of relief as the ball bounced off the far post and out for a goal kick.
City came out for the second half, knowing that they still needed at least two goals to stand a chance of getting past the tie, but they just couldn't get a foot to the ball to try and make this happen. Iniesta had the first chance of the second half on 46 minutes with a powerful shot from outside the box which Hart palmed away before eventually keeping it in his grasp. Jordi Alba had a chance shortly after from close range, which Hart closed down and deflected out towards Messi. Messi's shot looked like it could go in, but Hart got back across the goal in time to palm the shot away.
In the 57th minute, the Barcelona play became quite risky as Marc-Andre ter Stegen is taken outside his box after a heavy touch, however, he isn't quick enough to clear it and Aguero dispossessed him. They couldn't capitalise on this though and Gerard Pique is in the right place to clear the deflected cross. City got the chance to counter attack through David Silva and Aguero and the play looked dangerous until Aguero got the cross into the box and the ball is cleared without much hassle.
The next period of play was literal end to end play. Barcelona finally got another chance in front of goal, through Suarez who tried to cut the ball across goal but could only fire the ball into the near side netting. Jesus Navas pushed the ball forward and travelled with the ball until he reached the right side of the six yard box but didn't take on the shot, instead he tried to cut the ball back but there were no City players to get on the end of it and the ball is cleared. Neymar lead the Barcelona counter attack and played in Messi who had lost both of the defenders alongside him. His first touch took him too close to Hart who directed him away from goal and took away the chance. The corner that followed landed at the feet of Messi once again, but Hart once again was ready for the chance and swept the ball away from his feet to make sure nothing could follow.
Messi was once again orchestrated a Barcelona chance as he played the ball into the box to Neymar, who managed to get a touch to the ball but couldn't direct it past Hart. Alba stepped up to collect the follow-up and placed the ball into the back of the net but the flag rightly went up denying Barcelona a second goal of the game. Neymar did have another chance minutes later as he was slipped in behind the City defence. He was left one-on-one with Hart who did well to save the shot.
The 78th minute could have proved to be the turning point of the tie for City. Aguero was running into the box, but ran into trouble in the shape of Pique and Javier Mascherano. Mascherano did catch Aguero meaning that the referee made the right choice in giving them the penalty. Aguero steeped up to take the penalty and aimed the ball to the right of the keeper and ter Stegen was lucky it was at the perfect height for him to palm the ball away. Although, it did turn the tie into the tale of two missed penalties: Messi in the first tie and Aguero in the second. If the ball had hit the back of the net then the last ten minutes could have been completely different.
Neymar had another chance to score a goal after he was left one-on-one with Hart once again, but Hart was confident throughout the match and came out from his goal line to take the ball off the feet of the Barcelona forward. Suarez had a couple of chances in quick succession, the first of which was aimed across goal which Hart saved, but could only send the ball towards Messi whose chance was blocked by the defenders. Suarez got to the ball first following that chance and could only direct his ball onto the crossbar, but was rightly judged to have come back from an offside position.
In the final moments of the match, Neymar crossed the ball from the left side of the six yard box after leading a counter attack which Barcelona looked to be the stronger team during. He played the ball to Messi and Hart got across goal to smother the final shot. The game finished how it started with a chance from Neymar, this time his shot was aimed straight at Hart who pushed the ball out to ultimately finish the game.
It could have been a lot worse for City during the tie if it wasn't for their keeper. Hart managed to tally up a total of 10 saves in the match at the Nou Camp alone, saving his team the embarrassment of a goal fest during the match. It does still look like City have a lot of work to do before they will go past this round in Europe, with their play looking laboured at times and they were a team that looked like they lack self-belief. However, take nothing away from Barcelona, as once again they showed what a beautiful game football can be.
City did start brightly and were pushing forward to try and nick the ball from their opponents so that they could push forwards. However, the first chance of the game did fall to Neymar. Vincent Kompany lost the ball on the edge of the box to Dani Alves and played in Neymar, whose shot bounced off the near post and rolled along the goal line before going wide of the near post, leaving many people wondering how it didn't go in.
City didn't sit back and let Barcelona play though. Sergio Aguero got the first chance for City after he was allowed time and space on the ball and his shot eventually hit Alves before going out for a corner. The next attack was pure class from Barcelona. The players passed it among themselves with ease and the City players couldn't get close to the ball no matter how hard they tried, before Messi and Andres Iniesta played a great one-two in the box, but Messi's shot was saved by the legs of Hart.
Yaya Toure powered through the Barcelona players to get the ball into the box and onto the feet of Milner. His shot was stopped by Alves, who was off balance, but just managed to time his tackle right to prevent a possible goal. Down the other end, Messi won a free kick moments later and his shot was curling up towards the top corner, but much to Hart's relief it landed on top of the net instead of nestling inside of it. Ten minutes later, Messi was presented with a similar chance from another free kick. So similar in fact that it landed in practically the same place on top of the net as the last one had.
The game was shaping up to be a tight contest, and just after the half hour mark, Ivan Rakitic managed to give the hosts some breathing space over their opposition. Messi played a beautiful ball into the box from the right wing which took out the City defenders, and Rakitic, whose run was timed perfectly, chested the ball down and gracefully chipped the ball over the head of Hart and into the back of the net.
The rest of the first half was all about Barcelona. From a corner in the build-up to half time, Suarez was allowed into a lot of space in the box, but he could only direct his free header off target. Three minutes later, Suarez was allowed a lot of space again from Kompany and Martin Demichelis. Hart came running out of his goal to try and stop the shot, but Suarez chipped the ball over the keeper. The defender running back couldn't catch up to the ball and people supporting City let out a collective sigh of relief as the ball bounced off the far post and out for a goal kick.
City came out for the second half, knowing that they still needed at least two goals to stand a chance of getting past the tie, but they just couldn't get a foot to the ball to try and make this happen. Iniesta had the first chance of the second half on 46 minutes with a powerful shot from outside the box which Hart palmed away before eventually keeping it in his grasp. Jordi Alba had a chance shortly after from close range, which Hart closed down and deflected out towards Messi. Messi's shot looked like it could go in, but Hart got back across the goal in time to palm the shot away.
In the 57th minute, the Barcelona play became quite risky as Marc-Andre ter Stegen is taken outside his box after a heavy touch, however, he isn't quick enough to clear it and Aguero dispossessed him. They couldn't capitalise on this though and Gerard Pique is in the right place to clear the deflected cross. City got the chance to counter attack through David Silva and Aguero and the play looked dangerous until Aguero got the cross into the box and the ball is cleared without much hassle.
The next period of play was literal end to end play. Barcelona finally got another chance in front of goal, through Suarez who tried to cut the ball across goal but could only fire the ball into the near side netting. Jesus Navas pushed the ball forward and travelled with the ball until he reached the right side of the six yard box but didn't take on the shot, instead he tried to cut the ball back but there were no City players to get on the end of it and the ball is cleared. Neymar lead the Barcelona counter attack and played in Messi who had lost both of the defenders alongside him. His first touch took him too close to Hart who directed him away from goal and took away the chance. The corner that followed landed at the feet of Messi once again, but Hart once again was ready for the chance and swept the ball away from his feet to make sure nothing could follow.
Messi was once again orchestrated a Barcelona chance as he played the ball into the box to Neymar, who managed to get a touch to the ball but couldn't direct it past Hart. Alba stepped up to collect the follow-up and placed the ball into the back of the net but the flag rightly went up denying Barcelona a second goal of the game. Neymar did have another chance minutes later as he was slipped in behind the City defence. He was left one-on-one with Hart who did well to save the shot.
The 78th minute could have proved to be the turning point of the tie for City. Aguero was running into the box, but ran into trouble in the shape of Pique and Javier Mascherano. Mascherano did catch Aguero meaning that the referee made the right choice in giving them the penalty. Aguero steeped up to take the penalty and aimed the ball to the right of the keeper and ter Stegen was lucky it was at the perfect height for him to palm the ball away. Although, it did turn the tie into the tale of two missed penalties: Messi in the first tie and Aguero in the second. If the ball had hit the back of the net then the last ten minutes could have been completely different.
Neymar had another chance to score a goal after he was left one-on-one with Hart once again, but Hart was confident throughout the match and came out from his goal line to take the ball off the feet of the Barcelona forward. Suarez had a couple of chances in quick succession, the first of which was aimed across goal which Hart saved, but could only send the ball towards Messi whose chance was blocked by the defenders. Suarez got to the ball first following that chance and could only direct his ball onto the crossbar, but was rightly judged to have come back from an offside position.
In the final moments of the match, Neymar crossed the ball from the left side of the six yard box after leading a counter attack which Barcelona looked to be the stronger team during. He played the ball to Messi and Hart got across goal to smother the final shot. The game finished how it started with a chance from Neymar, this time his shot was aimed straight at Hart who pushed the ball out to ultimately finish the game.
It could have been a lot worse for City during the tie if it wasn't for their keeper. Hart managed to tally up a total of 10 saves in the match at the Nou Camp alone, saving his team the embarrassment of a goal fest during the match. It does still look like City have a lot of work to do before they will go past this round in Europe, with their play looking laboured at times and they were a team that looked like they lack self-belief. However, take nothing away from Barcelona, as once again they showed what a beautiful game football can be.
No comments:
Post a Comment