Barcelona came away with a 2-1 win where it could have been way lot more for the Spanish side. Barcelona and Luis Suarez made a light weather of Manchester City in the first half and perhaps should have finishied the game when they had the chance.
Manchester City got their acts together in the second half and made a game of it as Sergio Aguero brought the Citizens back in the tie. As it stands is only 2-1 right now. Lionel Messi missed a late penalty to kill the game for good but Joe Hart made a brilliant save.
There were many great performances on the night and we look at the best performers from tonight’s match in our Player Ratings feature for Manchester City vs Barcelona.
Manchester City
Joe Hart: (8.5/10) – Made crucial saves throughout the time. He has kept the life in this battle by saving the late penalty from Lionel Messi. Hart early on in the first half denied Luis Suarez and any of his saves would have gone in, City could have been well and truly out of the tie. He could do very little for Suarez’s both goals as it was in before he could even react.
Pablo Zabaleta: (5.5/10) – The man who gave away the Penalty which could have sent City out of the Champions League but Hart keeps them alive. Handled the Neymar with relatively ease. Did not had enough opportunity to bomb on due to the obvious Barca threat thus we did not see the best of Zabaleta tonight.
Vincent Kompany: (6/10) – Luis Suarez riddled around Kompany couple of time tonight and being the proud man he is, he would look to do better at Nou Camp.
Martin Demichelis: (5.5/10) – Manchester City need to buy an assured figure alongside Komapny. Dimichelis is a decent defender but he is not in the same bracket as Kompany. Dimichelis rushes in to tackles way too much and finds himself out of position thus leaves his side open to counter attacks.
Gael Clichy: (4/10) – Stupid Studpid foul on Dani Alves to get his 2nd yellow and eventual red card. What a time as well, City had just scored and looked to build on to something great but Clichy’s red card just took the bite out of City’s attacks.
Fernando: (6/10) – Not an easy task when you have to mark Iniesta, Rakitic and Messi at times. Did an alright job not allowing any of the three with easy possessions. I still believe, Fernando plays better with Yaya in the team.
James Milner: (5.5/10) – The utility man for Man City was off colour tonight. Started on the left then moved to right in the second half did not yield in to anything positive. Milner did the running but without any sense. Perhaps his recent injury got the better of him and he wasn’t ready for tonight.
Samir Nasri: (5/10) – Nasri did all the talking before the game how he and City fans would have hoped him to replicate some of that on the pitch. Nasri was poor against Alves and Co. and did not do anything positive for Man City going forward.
David Silva: (7/10) – He is mostly a 7/10 player week-in-week-out but his side needed more from him tonight. Silva found himself in the little holes time and time again but could not do anything constructive. Silva did set up the goal for Aguero but will hope for more in the 2nd leg.
Edin Dzeko: (5/10) – Dzeko performed his way back in to playing 11 tonight and he could have done the opposite by playing an awful game and he will be dropped in the next game for sure. Dzeko could not use his height to his advantage as he was out muscled and outgunned by Pique.
Sergio Aguero: (7.5/10) – How often, he has been the saviour for Manchester City. Yet again, the Argentine scored a vital goal which could just keep City in the hunt when the 2nd leg will come around. Aguero finished with such calmness and brilliance was worth seeing on repeat. First touch was amazing and finish was equally good. City need him in the 2nd leg to be at his absolute best.
SUBS
Bacary Sagna (5/10), Wilfried Bony (4/10), Fernandinho (4/10)
Barcelona
Andre Ter Stegen: (6/10) – Had very little to do in the 1st half. Kept his cool against Man City’s early 2nd half attacks and justified his selection ahead of Cludio Bravo.
Dani Alves: (6/10) – Often called as the rampaging right back was at his rather subdued mood tonight. Alves did not join in the attacks as much he often does rather he was more focused on dealing with David Silva at the other end.
Gerrard Pique: (7/10) – One of his best games in recent weeks. Despite being in & out of the side, Pique showed immense composure in his tackles. Pique’s timing of the jumps against City’s corners denied Dzeko any real opportunities. Pique was the best defender on the pitch tonight.
Javier Mascherano: (6.5/10) – The little Argentine is perhaps not physically built to be a defender but he makes up all of that with his intelligently timed tackle and speed to recover the lost ground. Never allowed Dzeko or Aguero the space to run behind him.
Jordi Alba: (7.5/10) – Displayed why he is seen as one of the best full backs in the world. Did not miss any opportunity to bomb on and support his attackers and he was never found out from his position while defending.
Sergio Busquets: (6.5/10) – Often going under the radar because of what lies ahead of him but Sergio Busquets is a vital team member for Barcelona and he showed that one more time with a well-paced and structured performance tonight. Had touches in the game and completed % of his passes and built many Barca’s attack from midfield.
Ivan Rakitic: (7/10) – Rakitic has established himself as a regular feature in Barcelona’s playing 11 and he showed once more why he was bought by the Catalan giants. Rakitic showed some touches worth standing up and applauding but his game was way more than that tonight. Rakitic’s pressing on the forced City back a lot of time and forced them to look for different ways to build their attack.
Andres Iniesta: (6/10) – Did an unselfish job tonight. Sacrificed his position to Rakitic on more than one occasion and was happy to play the anchor alongside Busquets. Acted as the link man between the front three and the defenders.
Lionel Messi: (9/10) – Samir Nasri rightly said before the game that he plays his football from a different galaxy and Messi displayed one of his best performances this season. Messi drifted wide and was willing to drop deep to effect Barcelona’s play. Messi drew the foul to win the penalty, and perhaps the only blemish for him would be his penalty miss late on. Everytime Messi was on the ball he looked like scoring or assisting a goal. BRILLIANT !!
Luis Suarez: (9.5/10) – What a return to England for the Uruguayan. He brought his shooting boots as well as he scored 2 sublime goals. Suarez played on the shoulder of Kompany and Dimichiles and took his chances brilliantly. For the first goal, he did not allow Hart any chance to react and for the second he was alive to the opportunity and tucked it home.
Neymar: (6/10) – The quietest of the MSN trio tonight. Neymar displayed his neat touches and passes but did not do enough to impact the game in a way his other fellow strikers did.
SUBS
Jeremy Mathieu (4/10), Adriano (4/10)
Image Credits: Dailymail