Manchester City 0-2 Barcelona: Highway to the next round?

Full-time: Manchester City 0-2 Barcelona
Goals: Lionel Messi (54′), Daniel Alves (90′)
Match date: February 18, 2014
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Competition: UEFA Champions League
Barcelona line-up: Valdés, Jordi Alba, Mascherano, Piqué, Daniel Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Alexis Sánchez.

Barça has taken the Etihad by storm and after a dominating performance, the Blaugrana brought back a precious 0-2 away win against Manchester City. Neymar started on the bench, but it would be Lionel Messi setting most the differences between these two top European sides, in what was a very cold night in England.

As expected, Barcelona had a hold on the ball throughout most of the game, even though the best chances in the 1st half ended up being created by the hosts. Half-time came in with a goalless draw, as both sides were playing cautiously and fully aware that a single mistake could very well be decisive. That was precisely what happened shortly after we saw the game being resumed for the second half and it all started in a ball possession lost by Navas, close to the right sideline. The Spaniard went down too easily on a challenge with Busquets (can you find the irony on this?), and Barça made Manchester City through a fast counter. Iniesta picked up the ball in midfield, spotted Lionel Messi unmarked just a few meters ahead and assisted the Argentina international with a low pass.

Messi controlled it and he was just entering Manchester City‘s box without having any further opponent in front him except the Joe Hart, he got tripped from behind after a sliding tackle from DeMichelis. The referee didn’t hesitate and pointed to the penalty spot, right before he showed DeMichelis the red card. Lionel Messi naturally stepped on to take the penalty and he wouldn’t tremble in such an important moment, scoring an always vital away goal for the visitors. City were down to 10-men against a Barça side that until that point had already been clearly trying to keep the ball only to themselves… Manuel Pelegrini‘s men were in trouble!

If the 0-1 result was already quite positive for Barça, it would get even better with a late goal scored by Daniel Alves. The Brazil international had one of his best performances this season (if not the best) and in a period of the game where Neymar had already stepped on to the pitch (he replaced Alexis Sánchez on the 73rd minute), Alves sealed the deal after a great combination with Neymar on the right. The 30-year old defender found between Joe Hart‘s legs and hammered it into the back of the net, to set the final score in 0-2.

The two teams will meet again on March 12, at the Camp Nou. You can watch Barcelona vs Manchester City live on Ronaldo7.net.

Sources: fcbarcelona.com / espnfc.com

Watch the highlights video from Manchester City 0-2 Barcelona match:

Barcelona and Neymar Jr match photos against Manchester City: