A brace from Ilkay Gundogan and an exquisite free kick from Kevin de Bruyne earned Manchester City a 3-1 win at home against Barcelona. The result leaves City with a 3-point lead over Monchengladbach in Group C, while Barcelona remain on 9 points with 2 more matchdays to go.
Barcelona travelled to the Etihad Stadium in buoyant form, with a 5-point lead at the top of their Champions League group. City headed into the game with a number of games to avenge, and the fire in their collective belly made the difference on the night.
Here are 5 talking points from the game.
#1 Referee Viktor Kassai has a poor game
City began the game on a bright note and were matching Barcelona toe-to-toe, tackle-to-tackle for the first 15 minutes. In that spell, they created a wonderful opportunity courtesy an Aguero run into space, which drew Barca’s defence, and the Argentinian striker played Sterling into space.
Sterling proceeded with the ball into the box and drew a clumsy challenge from young centre-back Samuel Umtiti. While television replays showed clear contact between the two, referee Viktor Kassai waved away the appeals by the Citizens and instead booked Raheem Sterling for simulation.
This was not the only contentious decision made by the Hungarian referee, who is considered one of the best in the business. A number of his calls turned out to be wrong, and he was also guilty of not booking Busquets, despite the fact that a number of mistimed tackles by the Spaniard could have earned him a booking in other matches.
City did go on to win the game, but the wrong call early on by Kassai could have cost them big time on another day.
#2 Ilkay Gundogan’s impact
The German, who has figured in Guardiola’s XI ever since he was passed fit to play, put in a masterful performance in midfield yesterday. Playing beside David Silva and Fernandinho, Gundogan was able to override Barcelona’s second wave of pressing, and the trio combined to nullify Barca’s attack and made several crucial interceptions.
Gundogan’s first goal set the tone for City’s comeback, as he walked the ball into an empty net following a world-class passing move, with Sterling providing the killer through ball to him.
He got a deserved second goal following another slick passing move that culminated with him pushing the ball past a hapless Barcelona defence, who were in sixes and sevens for the duration of the second half.
#3 Barcelona’s fringe players outclassed
Barcelona could not field their best possible starting XI on the day with several injuries to key personnel. Andre Gomes replaced the injured Andres Iniesta from the lineup, while Lucas Digne played in place of Alba, who walked off injured in the 4-0 victory from the last Champions League game week.
Jeremy Mathieu and Gerard Pique were also unavailable, as Barcelona had to field their weakest centre-back pairing of Umtiti and Javier Mascherano to cope with their copious injury troubles.
The effects of the injuries were apparent as Barca were pinned back during the second half by a number of fast-paced Manchester City counterattacks. A loose pass from the normally reliable Sergi Roberto gave City the opening for their first goal of the night.
#4 Messi’s golden run against English clubs continues
In past encounters between the two teams, Lionel Messi had always been Barcelona’s go-to player, and this game proved to be no different. The Argentine scored the game’s opening goal following a sweet counterattacking move, after being teed up expertly by an onrushing Neymar.
Messi still had a considerable amount of work to do in placing a shot on target, and he did that with aplomb to give Barcelona their lead and his 16th goal in 14 Champions League games against English clubs – the most by any player in the Champions League.
The Argentinian genius is also the top-scorer of this year’s Champions League, having scored 7 goals in just 3 games so far. His form looks good enough to take him into double digits for goals during the group stages itself, thereby challenging Ronaldo’s record from last season.
#5 Manchester City’s first win against Barcelona
Barcelona have been one of the chief tormentors for Manchester City in the Champions League, having knocked them out of the competition in the 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Going into this game, and 20 minutes into the game, there was an all-pervasive feeling that City would again go down with a whimper against this Barcelona side.
But Guardiola had other ideas, and Manchester City looked like a team with a point to prove in the second half as they increased their pressing intensity.
City overran Barcelona over the last 30 minutes or so, and mopped up the game in the closing stages with the composure of a mature side.
