Barcelona v Manchester City: Champions League – as it happened
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Version 0 of 1. 9.36pm GMT21:36 FULL TIME: Barcelona 1-0 Manchester City (Barcelona win 3-1 on aggregate) Oh Sergio. Oh City. Oh England. 9.36pm GMT21:36 90 min +2: Neymar versus Joe Hart, one on one, part XXXVIII. A shot towards the top left. Another outstanding save. City’s man of the match, no question. 9.34pm GMT21:34 90 min +1: Dani Alves is replaced by Adriano. 9.33pm GMT21:33 90 min: There will be two added minutes of this. “I keep waiting for a QPR 2012 moment so that the Premier League will have some representation in the Champions League,” sighs Lilian Cooper, “but I’m starting to accept its not gonna happen.” 9.33pm GMT21:33 89 min: Hart has been outstanding tonight. Neymar reaches the byline down the left and pulls the ball back for Messi, who drags the ball past Sagna in the Puskas-Wright style. Messi lamps the ball goalwards from six yards - but Hart somehow parries it clear! That’s a stunning save! City haven’t been particularly good tonight, but their keeper has been magnificent, world class. Updated at 9.47pm GMT 9.30pm GMT21:30 87 min: Lampard comes on for Milner. 9.30pm GMT21:30 86 min: Messi slips a ball down the right to release Suarez into the area. His shot is parried by a strong Hart hand. Messi then works the ball down the channel again, Suarez spinning to crash an effort off the crossbar. But he’s offside. Suarez looks pained, but then when doesn’t he look pained. It’s his default setting, and part of his strange charm. 9.27pm GMT21:27 84 min: Rakitic, who is still the only goalscorer this evening, somehow, is replaced by Rafinha. 9.26pm GMT21:26 83 min: Messi curls an effort around the left-hand side of the City wall, and nearly threads the ball into the top left. Not quite. 9.25pm GMT21:25 82 min: Suarez turns Kompany with embarrassing ease down the inside-left channel. He’s romping towards the area. Demichelis is forced to bowl him over, and take the yellow card. A free kick, just outside the City box, to the left of goal. 9.24pm GMT21:24 80 min: Dani Alves is booked for a cynical tackle on Silva as the pair battle down the City left. He’ll miss Barca’s next match should the Spanish club make it to the quarters. 9.23pm GMT21:23 79 min: Neymar nearly adds insult to injury, tearing down the left to earn another one-on-one with Hart. Yet again the keeper, who has been magnificent, comes out on top. City are still in this, though a damn sight more deflated than they were five minutes ago, the way things have panned out. Updated at 9.31pm GMT 9.22pm GMT21:22 78 min: Ah no, now this is a costly miss. Aguero gets up and takes the spot kick himself. Poorly. It’s to the left, but not by much, and hit weakly. Ter Stegen’s parries clear. Oh dear. Still, so much for Barca’s weak link, huh. Updated at 9.40pm GMT 9.21pm GMT21:21 77 min: PENALTY TO CITY! Aguero jinks in from the right, and makes it into the area. And he’s taken out by Mascherano from one side, and Pique on the other! A chance for City to put the cat among the pigeons right here! 9.20pm GMT21:20 76 min: Though there’s easing off, and easing off. Iniesta curls a pass down the left and sends Neymar clear. He’s one on one with Hart, who saves. A costly miss? Because ... 9.19pm GMT21:19 74 min: Mascherano gifts the ball to Aguero, 40 yards from goal. Aguero strides down the left channel, glides inside, and shoots from the edge of the box. The ball’s blocked the second it leaves his boot. Milner picks up possession down the right, and wangs the ball into the stand behind the goal. Pressure relieved. City still aren’t totally out of this, though. Barcelona have eased off since the restart. 9.16pm GMT21:16 73 min: Aguero, twisting down the inside-right channel, whips a pass inside for Bony, who attempts a first-time lash towards the top right. It’s a decent enough effort from distance, but always high and wide. That would have been an interesting introduction. 9.16pm GMT21:16 72 min: Toure is replaced by Bony, City rolling the dice now. 9.15pm GMT21:15 71 min: Barcelona score! Ah hold on, no they don’t. Suarez swings a ball into the box from the right. Neymar sticks a leg out, rushing in, and guides the ball towards the bottom left. Hart parries at close range, rather well, but the ball springs left to Alba, who slips the ball home from a tight angle. But he’s offside. City breathe again. Again. Updated at 9.36pm GMT 9.13pm GMT21:13 69 min: Toure nudges the ball past a snoozing Mathieu down the right, and goes off on a romp. He should get a cross away, but takes one touch too many and allows Alba to nudge him off the ball. The ball flies out for a goal kick, as Toure goes down looking for a cheap free kick. He doesn’t get it. 9.11pm GMT21:11 67 min: This match is totally shapeless now, and highly entertaining for it. Messi latches onto a scoop down the right, standing in the City area, but can’t shift his feet, and Hart is able to smother before a shot’s flicked goalwards. Then up the other end, Toure, 25 yards out down the right, wheechs a rising shot into the side netting! This is breathless stuff. Updated at 9.37pm GMT 9.09pm GMT21:09 64 min: It’s hard to predict how this half will pan out. In a manic minute, Jesus Navas dribbles into the Barca area down the right, reaching the corner of the six-yard box. Instead of shooting from close range, albeit at a tight angle, he pulls the ball back to nobody. Kolarov has a whack eventually, and Milner tries to cause a bit of bother in Navas Country, to the right of the six-yard box. But the ball clanks between his legs. Then Barca skate up the other end, City having overcommitted. The ball’s fed to Messi in the area, on the right, but he somehow confuses himself, a rarity, and can’t batter a shot goalwards. An escape at both ends. 9.07pm GMT21:07 63 min: Neymar, then Messi, then Suarez down the inside-left channel. Ping, ping, ping. Suarez takes a step into the area, and should score, but slices his effort into the side netting on the left. Barca have been utterly dominant, but they’ve still scored just the one goal. City still have hope. 9.05pm GMT21:05 61 min: Dani Alves swans in from the right, exchanges passes with Messi on the edge of the box, thinks about shooting, then very nearly releases Neymar into the area down the left. His pass is cut out at the last by Kompany. A gorgeous move. 9.03pm GMT21:03 60 min: Silva and Aguero exchange passes down the left wing, but can’t quite unpick a backtracking Barcelona. This is better from City, who are giving it a go right now. 9.02pm GMT21:02 57 min: This is preposterous! A bit more possession for City. Eventually a loose ball breaks down their left. Ter Stegen trots out to gather, but the ball rolls out of the area, so he’s forced to dribble down the wing. Instead of blootering the ball clear, he decides to try to skin Aguero on the outside! With grim predictability, he’s shoulder-charged off the ball. Aguero turns and whips a shot towards a goal with no keeper in it. Fortunately for Barca, Pique is on hand to head clear. It’ll only take a moment like that. Another phase of attack, and Kolarov shoots, but ter Stegen is back in position. After gathering the ball, he apologises sheepishly to his team-mates. He’s the weak link in this side, the goalie. 8.58pm GMT20:58 54 min: Fernandinho meets a floated free kick with his head, 12 yards out, but can’t connect properly. The ball pings off his eyebrows and away to the left flank, the danger over. Updated at 9.14pm GMT 8.57pm GMT20:57 53 min: A bit of possession for City in the Barca half, which hasn’t happened too often. Fernandinho, Sagna and Toure triangulate down the left. Eventually Sagna is upended by Alba. A free kick 30 yards out down the right, and a chance for City to load the box. 8.55pm GMT20:55 50 min: And yet one goal for City would change everything. A ball looped into the Barca area down the inside-left channel. Aguero chests down and attempts to burn Alves. Pique comes across to mop up before the striker can get a shot away. “Good to see Brookside’s Gizzmo on the extreme right of the back row of that Manchester City 1970 squad,” writes Gary Naylor, in no way slipping into Professional Liverpudlian Mode. 8.52pm GMT20:52 48 min: Barcelona are looking to wrap this up in double-quick time, with Real Madrid waiting on Sunday. Rakitic glides in from the right, and whips a wild shot miles left of the target. Then another phase of attack. Jordi Alba enters the area down the left and blams a shot straight at Hart. Then another phase, Messi advancing on the box and lashing a shot towards the bottom right from the left-hand edge of the City D. Hart parries well. This is attack versus defence. City are struggling. 8.50pm GMT20:50 46 min: Suarez goes on an immediate tear down the right. He outstrips a hapless Demichelis, and enters the box. His dinked cross is fairly aimless, and half cleared by Kompany. Iniesta takes up possession, and batters a low, hard shot straight at Hart. 8.48pm GMT20:48 And we’re off again! Barca get the ball rolling once more. Nasri, who should have been sent off, has been replaced by Jesus Navas. Now, City were comprehensively outplayed in that first half, but they’ve at least kept within touching distance. They still need two goals, so in that sense nothing’s changed. Those two strikes would merely take the game to extra time, rather than seal a spectacular win for the ages, is all. No biggie. “Fear not, City fans,” chirps Dundee United fan Simon McMahon, of kick-off fame. “We were 1-0 down at HT in 1987 too.” 8.38pm GMT20:38 Half-time soothing balm: It doesn’t look promising for City right now. Time, perhaps, to recall better days in Europe. Hey, here’s the team showing off the 1970 Cup Winners Cup! Very much enjoying those Maine Road hoardings, too. Drink beer. Smoke tabs. Straight off the pages of Billy the Fish. Updated at 8.40pm GMT 8.34pm GMT20:34 HALF TIME: Barcelona 1-0 Manchester City (agg 3-1) City hear the half-time whistle. They’ve done very well to keep Barca to a single goal, though the hosts have hit the woodwork twice. To be fair to City, it’s hard to see what they can do. It’s not really a case of them playing badly; Barca have been simply magnificent so far. A big test awaits them in the second half. 8.33pm GMT20:33 45 min: City go up the other end, Toure battering a shot over from 30 yards. He yells in frustration. “I thought they had banned bullfighting in Catalonia,” quips Rudy Hulsman. Aye, this is a bit of a cruel tease right now. City really need to hear that half-time whistle. 8.32pm GMT20:32 44 min: A gorgeous sidefooted curler down the left from Neymar, and City’s back line is in pieces. Suarez is free on goal, racing down the inside-left channel. Suarez flicks the ball over Hart, and off the right-hand post. So close to a second. Updated at 8.58pm GMT 8.31pm GMT20:31 43 min: Aguero latches onto a long pass down the middle, and gets a shot away on the edge of the D, but it’s charged down pretty much at source. At the moment, it’s very difficult to see how City are going to get back into this tie. They’ll need to keep it tight until half-time, at the very least. 8.29pm GMT20:29 41 min: Messi bustles down the middle, then flicks the ball forward for Neymar, who breaks clear into the area down the left. He should score, but his flick doesn’t have enough juice on it, and Hart can deflect out, wide right, for a corner. From which Suarez is afforded a free header, six yards out. Fortunately for City, he doesn’t connect. 8.27pm GMT20:27 38 min: Rakitic zips down the middle and slides the ball wide left for Suarez, who feeds a pass down the channel for Neymar. He should get a shot away, but hesitates, and a corner will have to do. Nothing comes from the set piece. Spanish television is showing, on repeat, a clip of Messi slipping the ball between Milner’s legs, the England international sliding over in a futile attempt to block the ball. This is a lesson right now. 8.25pm GMT20:25 36 min: City will do well to end this game with eleven men. Nasri is booked for a frustrated and flagrantly deliberate swipe on Neymar’s ankles, as the Brazilian swished past him. He could easily have seen red, which was the colour of the mist that came down there. To be fair to Nasri, he has the good grace to go up to Neymar and apologies for his actions, but still. He’ll need to calm down, and quickly. The head’s gone. 8.23pm GMT20:23 34 min: City need to clear their heads. Toure clips Suarez’s ankles, 25 yards from goal, in the middle of the park. Fernandinho was on hand to break up the move, there was no need for the tackle. Rakitic takes the free kick, and scores three rugby points. Not quite the feathery touch of before. 8.20pm GMT20:20 GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Manchester City (Rakitic 31; agg 3-1) This has been coming, and it was so simple. Jordi Alba storms up the middle of the park. He flies the ball wide right for Messi, who eats up 20 yards or so before drawing three defenders, and then scooping a diagonal pass wide left to release Rakitic into the City area. He chests down, then dinks the ball over the advancing Hart and into the right-hand side of the net. A soft stroke of the boot. Magnificent play. City are really up against it now. As if they weren’t already. Updated at 9.04pm GMT 8.17pm GMT20:17 29 min: Suarez scampers down the left. He’s in acres, with time, space and options in the middle. From a restrictive angle, he batters the ball straight at Hart. A poor decision. City go up the other end, a long ball down the right causing ter Stegen a little angst. The keeper comes out of the area to hack clear, though nearly found himself closed down by Aguero. 8.16pm GMT20:16 28 min: For the second time in the match, Messi plonks the ball on the top netting, his attempt to pitching-wedge the free kick into the top right a little overcooked. Hart probably had that one covered. 8.15pm GMT20:15 8.15pm GMT20:15 27 min: Messi sashays down the inside-right channel, with extreme prejudice. He’s advancing on the area, and he’s one on one with Dimichelis. But before he can get there, he’s upended by Silva, sliding in from the back. A third City booking. Silva took one for the team there. A free kick, just to the right of the D, Messi standing over it. Gulp. Updated at 8.31pm GMT 8.12pm GMT20:12 24 min: City can’t get anything going right now. Milner attempts to inject a bit of life into their play with a determined run down the middle of the park, but his flick out to the left, meant for Silva, is easily snaffled by Mascherano. 8.11pm GMT20:11 22 min: Suarez is very nearly set free down the middle of the park by a simple 60-yard hoof forward by Pique. Barca are not above the basic stuff if the chance presents itself. And why not? Demichelis steps in to put a stop to the Reepian scheme, but only just. Suarez applauds his team-mate’s quick thinking, City having nearly been caught out very light at the back. 8.08pm GMT20:08 20 min: Kolarov is in the book now for a fairly basic obstruction on Messi, as the wee man looks to zip off down the right wing. He can have no complaints, having dispatched Messi halfway to the stands. 8.06pm GMT20:06 18 min: Kolarov dances down the left, his twinkle toes foxing Dani Alves enough to earn a corner. Silva’s delivery is once again dismal. But there’s another phase of attack, and Kolarov takes a lash from 25 yards up the inside-left channel. His low, diagonal shot is arrowing towards the bottom right, but ter Stegen is behind it and smothers. 8.04pm GMT20:04 16 min: ... looks for the top-right corner with an up-and-down curler. He nearly hits the target, too. Not sure Hart was getting there, so the keeper’s doubly happy to see the ball settle on the top of the netting, a few inches too high. Messi has scored 10 goals in his last 11 matches against English opposition, and he looks in the mood to add to that tally tonight. Updated at 8.23pm GMT 8.03pm GMT20:03 15 min: Fernandinho is booked for hanging a leg out to stop Neymar squirting off down the middle of the park. This will be a free kick in a central position, 30 yards from goal. Messi steps up, and ... 8.01pm GMT20:01 14 min: Toure powers into the Barca area down the right. His low ball into the middle clips off the legs of Mathieu, and Dani Alves can slide in ahead of Milner, who was on the penalty spot waiting to connect. Promising from City. 8.00pm GMT20:00 12 min: Messi clips a high-speed one-two with Iniesta down the inside-left channel, and he’s got Hart in his sights. A shot towards the bottom left, which the keeper does well to parry. The resulting corner comes to naught. But City are looking very shaky at the back. Barca have cut through them a couple of times already. I’m not sure how sensible a policy of all-out attack by City would be, but simply attempting to keep it tight at the back might be a pipe dream. Ah, the dilemmas of playing a side with an attack like Barca’s. Updated at 8.00pm GMT 7.58pm GMT19:58 10 min: Both teams look strangely nervous. Daniel Alves very nearly gifted the ball to Silva there, as he fannied around in his right-back position. He remembers what to do just in time, and blooters clear. 7.56pm GMT19:56 9 min: The Alba-Nasri kid-a-thon continues, the latter at fault this time, clattering into the tackle. Gentlemen, for goodness sake. City go up the other end, Aguero having a dig from 25 yards. It’s not a particularly good effort, but his shot takes a deflection and flies out left of the target for a corner. Silva’s delivery is a waste of time. 7.55pm GMT19:55 6 min: Jordi Alba and Nasri interact like children on the playground, the former clipping the latter’s lug. The referee points to the age boxes on their birth certificates. Barca finally put a couple of passes together up the field. And so nearly score! First Neymar skips past Sagna down the left as though the full back wasn’t there. His ball into the centre is cleared by Kompany. But not particularly far. Another phase of Barca attack, and Alves, on the edge of the City D, latches onto a poor Kompany pass and flicks a ball into the area down the left. Neymar is one on one with Hart! He’s surely going to score, but his sidefooted effort clatters off the bottom of the left-hand post, and spins across the face of goal before curling out just to the right. How on earth did that not go in?! Lucky Kompany. Lucky City. 7.51pm GMT19:51 4 min: Kolarov steps up from a deep position on the left and nearly releases Milner into space down the wing. Again Barca are sloppy at the throw, and gift possession back to the visitors. City haven’t managed to launch an attack yet, but they’ve started better than Barca, who haven’t managed more than a couple of passes yet. 7.49pm GMT19:49 2 min: Fernandinho attempts a long pass down the right, in the hope of setting Silva away on a scamper. But the ball flies out of play. No matter, City soon win it back, and their defenders take the opportunity to get an early feel of the ball. 7.47pm GMT19:47 And we’re off! A couple of minutes late, too. What will the TV companies say? City get the ball rolling. Classic, please! “If any City fans are looking for omens, it’s 28 years to the day since Dundee United beat Barcelona 2-1 in the Nou Camp to progress to the semi-finals of the Uefa Cup,” reports Simon McMahon. “Mind you, unlike City, we had won the first leg at Tannadice, in fact all three previous meetings between the clubs, too.” Let’s be honest, you didn’t bring that up for the benefit of City fans, did you Simon McMahon. 7.46pm GMT19:46 The teams are out! A capacity Camp Nou crowd bounces around wildly, pretty much as you’d expect. Handel’s work is being desecrated, as usual, with the official Uefa Champions League anthem pounding from the PA speakers. Barcelona are playing in their famous blaugrana FC Basel homage. Manchester City have their tracksuit tops on. But they’re wearing white shorts. They’re not going to unveil a provocative, bespoke, Real Madridesque all-white kit, are they? Hey, the gambit didn’t do Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool any harm in the Uefa Cup semi-finals of 2001. Nope, they’re in their first-choice powder blue. It doesn’t clash, so it should have been obvious, but you know how insistent the marketing bods are on away trips these days. Pennants have been swapped, hands have been shaken, and we’ll be off in a minute! 7.15pm GMT19:15 So what is there to say about that Barcelona team? Just look at that forward line! A lovely old-fashioned feel to it. All angles covered. City by contrast start with just the one up front, David Silva tucked in behind Sergio Aguero, midfield solidity very much the watchword. No point throwing caution to the wind too early, I suppose. Any weak links in the Barca side? Well, the defence never gets much of a test, does it, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen looked a bit shaky in the cup semi against Villarreal recently. It’s not much, but it’s something. “I once berated a pair of drunken revellers for urinating in that fountain in Plaça Reial,” writes Kevin Smith. Ah, sweet reminiscence of salad days. “It never occurred to me that a half-naked, shaven-headed, tattood City fan might dive in.” 7.00pm GMT19:00 Dramatis personæ Barcelona: ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Pique, Mathieu, Jordi Alba, Rakitic, Mascherano, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez, Neymar.Subs: Bravo, Xavi, Pedro, Rafinha, Bartra, Sergi Roberto, Adriano. Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov, Nasri, Toure, Fernandinho, Milner, Silva, Aguero.Subs: Caballero, Zabaleta, Fernando, Dzeko, Bony, Jesus Navas, Lampard. Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Firenze) 6.00pm GMT18:00 The English Champions League charge. It’s not quite gone to plan, has it. Manchester City, then, are the Premier League’s final hope. First the good news. Even if City lose tonight, this year’s campaign will equal the famous old club’s best showing in Europe’s grandest competition. No quarter final as of yet, see. Though this isn’t quite as dreadful a record as it sounds. True, crashing out at the first round of the 1968/69 European Cup against Fenerbahçe was a bit of a shocker. But since then, the draw’s hardly been their friend. Bayern Munich, Villareal and Napoli in the groups in 2011/12. Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax in 2012/13. Barcelona in the Round of 16 last year. Barcelona at the same stage again this time. City’s bank balance means sympathy comes at a premium these days, that’s just the way of it. But have a heart: even the biggest clubs need a break every now and then. City will need every stroke of luck available tonight if they’re to escape from this particular hole. They go to Camp Nou looking for a win. Having been beaten 2-1 by Barcelona at the City of Manchester Stadium a couple of weeks ago, they’ve got to score at least two goals. They’ve not been playing very well, having lost three of their last four games, the last to relegation-haunted Burnley. They’ve lost all three of their competitive fixtures against Barcelona. Meanwhile with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez beginning to make some very loud clicking noises, Barca have been playing very well indeed. They’ve won 16 of their last 17 games in all competitions, scoring 58 goals. Or, if we count back a little more, they’ve won 26 of their last 29, scoring 97 times. Which stat sounds more ominous? Er. Erm. Hum. There’s also the small fact that only two teams in Champions League history have progressed in a knockout tie after losing the first leg at home. Step forward Ajax, who got past Panathinaikos in the 1996 semis in this manner, and Internazionale, who similarly knocked out Bayern Munich in the round of 16 in 2011. The odds are stacked heavily against Manuel Pellegrini’s beleaguered side. Then again, Yaya Toure is back! And Pellegrini, his Premier League title and job both hanging on gossamer threads, has absolutely nothing to lose. He might as well just go for it. And when teams do that, well, who knows? City could be about to register a very special result indeed. Something epochal. Or, hey, there’s always next year. This should be a cracker. It’s on! Kick off: 8.45pm in Catalunya, 7.45pm back in Mancunia. Updated at 6.04pm GMT |