Barcelona booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the second leg of their last-16 clash at the Camp Nou.
The Spanish side, who led 2-1 from the first leg in Manchester, opened the scoring after 31 minutes when Ivan Rakitic lifted his effort over the onrushing Joe Hart.
City improved in the second period and had the chance to set up a grandstand finish when Gerard Pique felled Sergio Aguero inside the box, but the Argentine forward was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen as the hosts booked their spot in the final eight once again.
Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two European rivals.
Match statistics
BARCELONA
Shots: 23
On target: 11
Possession: 59%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 6
MAN CITY
Shots: 14
On target: 4
Possession: 41%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 12
Was the result fair?
So much happened in the second leg at the Camp Nou that it is fairly incredible that only one goal was scored. However, even the most ardent of Manchester City supporter will find it difficult to make a case for their team in this one. As it transpired, Rakitic's strike in the first period proved the only goal of the match, but that was mainly down to a quite extraordinary performance from City goalkeeper Hart, who made four or five unbelievable saves in the second period.
The visitors really struggled in the first half as Barcelona took control, but they did improve in the second and had a wonderful chance to set up a grandstand finish late on when Pique clumsily brought Aguero to the ground inside the box. Had the Argentine found the back of the net, it would have left City needing just one more to take the game into extra time. Barca goalkeeper Ter Stegen stood strong to deny Aguero, however, which all but ended the away side's challenge.
As touched upon, but for Hart, this could have been four or five in the final 10 minutes. Time after time the England international denied Barca, with Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez all failing against the stopper. The statistics suggest that the Catalan outfit dominated the match and that was indeed the case. It was not as comfortable as they might have hoped, but there is little doubting that they deserved to win on the night and in the tie as a whole. For City, it is another season of disappointment in the Champions League and they must now focus on the Premier League. Failure to finish in the top four seems unthinkable.
Barcelona's performance
Barcelona were installed as the overwhelming favourites for this match and rightly so following an excellent run of form. They should have been ahead as early as the sixth minute, but Neymar could only rattle the post from close range. Messi then had two excellent chances, before turning provider to set up Rakitic, who finished over the onrushing Hart. Messi's first-half showing was one of the all-time great Champions League performances as he mesmerised City with a number of nutmegs and sensational dribbles. Suarez also had a golden chance from a corner in the first period, but City managed to keep the score to 1-0 at the break and there is no question that Barca dropped their level for at least the opening 20 minutes of the second half.
Whether they thought the tie was done is open to debate, but they always offered the impression that they would be capable of raising their performance levels if City managed to launch a late comeback. Messi and Neymar continued to share chances in the latter stages, but as mentioned, they came up against a goalkeeper that refused to be beaten for a second time. Down the other end, City were causing problems and Barcelona did not look too comfortable when balls were fired into the box.
Barca were perhaps a shade fortunate not to concede, but such was their attacking prowess, they were always a threat down the other end. Head coach Luis Enrique might be a little disappointed that his team appeared to lose control for spells of the second period, but they were never in any real danger of exiting the competition. They played very well in the first half of the first leg and ultimately that was the case again here. There are still a few things to work on for Enrique, but some of their football in the first half was an absolute joy to behold.
Man City's performance
In many ways, it was a similar City performance to the first leg. Poor in the first period, where the damage was done, but much improved in the second. Head coach Manuel Pellegrini surprisingly dropped the experienced Argentine Pablo Zabaleta from his XI, while he deployed Yaya Toure in a deeper midfield position alongside James Milner and Fernandinho. That allowed Samir Nasri to join David Silva and Aguero in the final third, but it did not really work in the first half. City only really created one chance of note in the first period, but Milner could not connect with a low cross from Toure.
As was the case in Manchester, Pellegrini's side came out fighting after the interval, but the damage had already been completed as they trailed 3-1 on aggregate, which was always going to be difficult to bounce back from. Jesus Navas replaced the ineffective Nasri, who was a shade fortunate not to be sent off in the first period, at the interval and for the first time in the match, the Premier League champions had Barca worried in the final third. City were looking for that one big chance and it came for Aguero from the penalty spot, but the Argentine's effort was saved by Ter Stegen.
Had Aguero found the back of the net, City's tails would have been up, but it demoralised the visitors to such an extent that they were lucky not to concede twice more down the other end. Wilfried Bony and Frank Lampard were both thrown on in the closing stages, but neither made much of an impact, while Toure struggled against his former club. On the face of it, a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona is not the worst result in the world - far from it - but they were a million miles away from the Catalan outfit over the two legs, which will be worry for the club's owners, who wanted progression in Europe. Ultimately, the better team won over the 180 minutes of football and it is now back to the drawing board for City.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Joe Hart: How on earth has Messi not been given this award? The Argentine was nailed-on following a stunning first-half performance and impressive second, but Hart must be recognised. It was almost an inhuman display from the City goalkeeper, who made four or five not great, but world-class saves late on. The England international has been criticised at times this season, but this was arguably his best ever display in a City shirt. It needed to be quite some performance to beat Messi and Hart just about shades it.
Biggest gaffe
Barcelona's finishing at times was really poor, with Neymar guilty of lacking composure in the final third, but Aguero passed up a sensational chance to hand City a route back into the tie late on. The Argentine stepped up to the penalty spot after being felled, but placed a fairly tame effort towards the corner and it was a comfortable save for Ter Stegen. Pellegrini will have wanted to see a bit more conviction at that stage of the match from a player that belongs at this level. Who knows what would have happened if that penalty had gone in.
Referee performance
Referee Gianluca Rocchi did well to keep all 22 players on the field at the Camp Nou as it looked for long spells as if that would not be the case. City picked up four bookings in the first period, but they were all fairly routine decisions from the Italian official. Rocchi was also correct to award the visitors a penalty late on, while he was always on the scene when needed. There are not really any major talking points concerning the referee, who had a solid game in Barcelona.
What next?
Barcelona: It is the small matter of El Clasico on Sunday, with Barcelona welcoming Real Madrid to the Camp Nou.
Man City: Pellegrini's side will attempt to reignite their faltering Premier League form when they welcome West Bromwich Albion to the Etihad in Saturday's early start.
Matt Law
