Man City vs Barcelona 19:45 KO

googled eyes

Should have let Luis take the peno and try for his hatrick.

blueser

Nolars wrote: »

Barca will finish it at home.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. Hope you and I are both wrong though!

A Dub in Glasgo

All City need to do is go to the Camp Nou and score 2 with a clean sheet :pac:

Andersonisgod

More conservative second half and the penalty miss at the end sours it a bit (real shame considering how Messi won that penalty) but 2-1 away from home is an excellent result, especially given that City must now go to the Camp Nou. Could have been better scorewise but a wonderful performance, an away win and really Barcelona should progress to the next round.

NIMAN

I think City have gone as far as they are going in this years CL.

K4t

enda1 wrote: »

Good craic that match.
Good game of football

Jermaine Jenas?

marklazarcovic

our mario would have scored

Oranage2

Refereeing in these barca games does be shocking, tonight wasnt as bad as I've seen it but still horribly biased

eternal

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Good old Messi, superhuman, can do no wrong.

As said, he gets nervous against Pl teams on the big European stage.

Kirby

Oranage2 wrote: »

Refereeing in these barca games does be shocking, tonight wasnt as bad as I've seen it but still horribly biased

Clichy deserved his red and Zabaleta did foul for the penalty. What exactly did the ref get wrong?

Giggsy11

Oranage2 wrote: »

Refereeing in these barca games does be shocking, tonight wasnt as bad as I've seen it but still horribly biased

Biased against?

Which decision was wrong?

Oranage2

Kirby wrote: »

Clichy deserved his red and Zabaleta did foul for the penalty. What exactly did the ref get wrong?

He gave a lot of soft fouls to barca I thought , I'm not sure about the penalty either.

Giggsy11

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Biased against?

Which decision was wrong?

None, Orange just being controversial me thinks

extra gravy

How many European failures is Aguero willing to put up with before he wants out? They're nowhere near good enough to seriously challenge in the CL.

TheCitizen

Andersonisgod wrote: »

More conservative second half and the penalty miss at the end sours it a bit (real shame considering how Messi won that penalty) but 2-1 away from home is an excellent result, especially given that City must now go to the Camp Nou. Could have been better scorewise but a wonderful performance, an away win and really Barcelona should progress to the next round.

Are you here to try to put off others on this forum from liking Barcelona?

bad2dabone

Aguero must be thinking about making a move soon.

eagle eye

bad2dabone wrote: »

Aguero must be thinking about making a move soon.

Lol, yeah cause its all about winning the Champion's league for him. That is why he moved to City in the first place! I'm sure the money doesn't matter to him.

bad2dabone

eagle eye wrote: »

Lol, yeah cause its all about winning the Champion's league for him. That is why he moved to City in the first place! I'm sure the money doesn't matter to him.

He can get paid elsewhere.

Andersonisgod

TheCitizen wrote: »

Are you here to try to put off others on this forum from liking Barcelona?

I'm genuinely struggling to see how anyone could find that post irritating.

eagle eye

Well the one thing that we already knew was just reaffirmed tonight. Louis Suarez just loves playing in England.

Second leg will be a different affair I think with Yaya Toure back in. He is so important to City.

K4t

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I'm genuinely struggling to see how anyone could find that post irritating.

Me too!

Kirby

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I'm genuinely struggling to see how anyone could find that post irritating.

No you're not. You know exactly what is irritating about it. Your mock confusion fools nobody.

Talib Fiasco

The hate for city is highly laughable and embarrassing

eternal

Group hug lads.

klose

eagle eye wrote: »

Lol, yeah cause its all about winning the Champion's league for him. That is why he moved to City in the first place! I'm sure the money doesn't matter to him.

Its not that absurd a point though, city dont look like they will win it any time soon and with the squad needing a bit of an over haul soon he might want to leave to challenge for a champions league title elsewhere.

K4t

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

The hate for city is highly laughable and embarrassing

Persecution complex? As a Man Utd fan, I'd always like to see City doing well against Europe's elite (not too well). They are champions of England and thus representing all of those teams they finished ahead of in the league, including Utd.

Oranage2

Tv3 is shocking, makeup being done in the background

Turtwig

City in big trouble. Completely outplayed in that first half. Have to score twice at the Nou Camp. Crucially though they are not out of it. Why on earth didn't Messi just 'walk' the ball into the goal. Or kick it in? Unbelievable miss. Keeps City alive. With Yaya back you'd expect City to be better next time around. Barca looked in trouble in that second half. City had them pressed back and when Barca got forward they didn't look near as potent. This tie is far from over.

Deserved win, could have been over by half-time. Yet on balance, scoreline reflects the game over both halfs and City deserve to be within a shout. It's a very tough ask!

klose

I must say fernando looks a very average player from what I've seen this season. Would imagine citys policy of replacing their defensive mid annually will continue.

eagle eye

klose wrote: »

Its not that absurd a point though, city dont look like they will win it any time soon and with the squad needing a bit of an over haul soon he might want to leave to challenge for a champions league title elsewhere.

All they need is one of each of the following CB, LB and CM, all world class of course, and they will be up there with the very best. They can do that in the summer if they wish.

fullstop

Oranage2 wrote: »

He gave a lot of soft fouls to barca I thought , I'm not sure about the penalty either.

You're a lot more biased than the ref if you think that wasn't a penalty.

eternal

They will be massacred at the Nou Camp.

Andersonisgod

Kirby wrote: »

No you're not. You know exactly what is irritating about it. Your mock confusion fools nobody.

Name out some things in that particular post that you found particularly irritating. I'm honestly looking forward to this.

TheCitizen

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I'm genuinely struggling to see how anyone could find that post irritating.

I have great time for Barcelona, I just find your over exuberance annoying considering you were on this forum here calling for Enrique to be sacked during a La Liga match a few months ago. It was hardly a "wonderful" performance as you described it.

City made a mess of it tonight, they didn't set themselves up right at all. That's why Barcelona won so easily.

The penalty at the end, Messi "won" it yes, waited for the contact and went down, fair enough.

Made a mess of the pen himself then, he looked a bit embarrassed at the end.

Macavity.

Always a big ask really.

TheCitizen

K4t wrote: »

Persecution complex? As a Man Utd fan, I'd always like to see City doing well against Europe's elite (not too well). They are champions of England and thus representing all of those teams they finished ahead of in the league, including Utd.

:pac: That's not even remotely believable.

Andersonisgod

TheCitizen wrote: »

I have great time for Barcelona, I just find your over exuberance annoying considering you were on this forum here calling for Enrique to be sacked during a La Liga match a few months ago. It was hardly a "wonderful" performance as you described it.

City made a mess of it tonight, they didn't set themselves up right at all. That's why Barcelona won so easily.

The penalty at the end, Messi "won" it yes, waited for the contact and went down, fair enough.

Made a mess of the pen himself then, he looked a bit embarrassed at the end.

So basically you're issue stems from the word "wonderful"

I could easily scroll through pages of this thread and find other posters posting other superlatives to describe Barcelona tonight that you've decided not to reply to but instead you've picked up on my post because I said "wonderful." A word which apparently shouldn't be used even if you've just gone to the home of the English champions, dominated the game in quite breathtaking fashion and won 2-1 in the biggest club competition on the planet. All of that doesn't warrant "wonderful."

K4t

TheCitizen wrote: »

:pac: That's not even remotely believable.

Believe it or not.

I don't lie about football, it's far too important.

extra gravy

Kompany has been dire for a while now but won't get dropped as there's nobody better. They spend 20 odd million on Mangala who looks like a liability so far. Fernando, Clichy, Navas, Milner, Nasri, Dzeko are all decent footballers but they won't win you a CL. Will be interesting to see if the sheikh throws more money at the problem.

TheCitizen

Andersonisgod wrote: »

So basically you're issue stems from the word "wonderful"

I could easily scroll through pages of this thread and find other posters posting other superlatives to describe Barcelona tonight that you've decided not to reply to but instead you've picked up on my post because I said "wonderful." A word which apparently shouldn't be used even if you've just gone to the home of the English champions, dominated the game in quite breathtaking fashion and won 2-1 in the biggest club competition on the planet. All of that doesn't warrant "wonderful."

I have seen Barcelona put in lots of wonderful performances in recent years. Tonight, they won handy 'cos it was handed to them on a plate. City were awful, very unprofessional. They weren't set up right at the start and after that they were always playing catch up.

Do you still think Enrique should be sacked?

Sanity_Saviour

Andersonisgod wrote: »

So basically you're issue stems from the word "wonderful"

I could easily scroll through pages of this thread and find other posters posting other superlatives to describe Barcelona tonight that you've decided not to reply to but instead you've picked up on my post because I said "wonderful." A word which apparently shouldn't be used even if you've just gone to the home of the English champions, dominated the game in quite breathtaking fashion and won 2-1 in the biggest club competition on the planet. All of that doesn't warrant "wonderful."

I think you've broken 3 cardinal rules of the boards soccer forum: (i) have some personality in your posts, (ii) Be positive without throwing digs and (iii) not be bitter.

That pretty much explains the inexplicable barrage that follows your posts

Macavity.

Sanity_Saviour wrote: »

I think you've broken 3 cardinal rules of the boards soccer forum: (i) have some personality in your posts, (ii) Be positive without throwing digs and (iii) not be bitter.

That pretty much explains the inexplicable barrage that follows your posts

Being bitter and throwing digs at one another are the cornerstones of this forum. :pac:

Cienciano

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

The hate for city is highly laughable and embarrassing

Why?

Andersonisgod

TheCitizen wrote: »

I have seen Barcelona put in lots of wonderful performances in recent years. Tonight, they won handy 'cos it was handed to them on a plate. City were awful, very unprofessional. They weren't set up right at the start and after that they were always playing catch up.

Do you still think Enrique should be sacked?

Yes and that first half more than warranted the tag "wonderful" I would also say that even in their pomp under Guardiola, away wins in the knockout rounds of the CL were rare enough, to beat Man City away, regardless of set up, and to do it in the fashion Barcelona did means that somebody nitpicking for supporters using a single superlative is ridiculous.

I'm not sure what that has to do with finding my post annoying despite it being a fairly run of the mill analysis of the game but ok. To answer the question, it's tough to say. Like a lot of Barcelona fans the issue with him was that he didn't know his best team despite being months in the job, he didn't know how he wanted Barcelona to play (as demonstrated by incredibly inconsistent performances) which was in stark contrast to Guardiola who stamped his philosophy on the squad from day one. I will say that he has now settled on a way of playing, it's reminiscent of the Rijkaard era, there's still midfield dominance but a greater reliance on individual talent (mainly the front 3) and a concerted effort to get the ball to those players as much as possible. He's also starting less arguments with the players and has increasingly found a role for Rafinha Alcantara.

The negatives are that, at times, the midfield is nonexistent, which is the complete opposite to how it was under Guardiola. There's far less pattern plays, less midfield combinations. Another negative is the full backs final product is inconsistent (Alba's case) or consistently woeful (In Alves' case). Still an issue from defending set pieces too.

Overall I suspect a new board will bring a new manager but Enrique can stake a claim to remaining manager if he can win trophies.

A Dub in Glasgo

The papers are quick tonight with their innuendos

Take Your Pants Off

So Man City need to score 2 goals to go through, what about to draw ?

Turtwig

Take Your Pants Off wrote: »

So Man City need to score 2 goals to go through, what about to draw ?

A draw next round means they'd have to win 2-1.

A Dub in Glasgo

win 2-1 in Barcelona will take the tie to ET and then penalties

Take Your Pants Off

Ah 2 goals, its quite hard to be honest, it depends, if we start off with a goal maybe we have a really good chance. Otherwise if they score first I think it be def either a draw or city going out.

Rayne Wooney

A fully fit Aguero is surely the best striker in the world, it's a shame he's made of glass