First Half: Messi has a penalty appeal turned down. Iniesta strikes a low dragged shot from long range wide across goal. Milner puts an effort across goal wide. Neymar has a goal ruled out for offside. Silva blazes a shot across goal from the edge of the box over the bar. Neymar has a low shot parried past the near post. Xavi has an effort parried away at the near side. Nasri has a low volley saved. Neymar has an effort headed off the line by Fernandinho.
Half Time: 0-0.
Second Half: Dzeko has a low shot saved. Messi cuts inside and hits the far post with a low shot. Dzeko is denied with a header by a great save away from the far top corner. Zabaleta slices a shot wide of the far post. Nasri fires a shot over the bar from the edge of the box. Messi fires a low shot from long range wide of the near post. Goal! 1-0, Barcelona take the lead on the night as Lescott fails to clear, allowing Messi to chip the ball into the far side. Xavi has a strike from the edge of the box parried behind at the near side. Iniesta slices a long range shot wide. Dzeko has a penalty appeal turned down. OFF! Zabaleta is shown a second yellow card and sent off for dissent. Fabregas has a shot parried behind the near post. Goal! 1-1, City equalise on the night as Kompany scores with a close range tap in from the rebound of Dzeko's parried header across goal. Goal! 2-1, Barcelona take the lead again as Iniesta plays the ball to Alves who beats the defence before blasting a shot past Hart.
Full Time: 2-1
Barcelona win 4-1 on aggregate.
My Opinion:
A shame to see City go out but the task just proved too much for them. Barcelona controlled the majority of the game as you would expect but it took them until the 67th minute to break the deadlock in the second leg. Messi scored a delightful goal which all but ended the tie. They did concede a late goal which meant another City goal would put them out but Alves ended any hope for the English club by smashing past Hart in the last few minutes. They deserved to win this leg but it was a farcical first leg where the decisions favoured Barcelona.
Man City gave themselves chances but they were unable to take any of them until it was too late. Kompany was their star player by quite a distance, proving himself to be a talisman at the back for City whilst leading by example. They really needed to score first to have any hope of going through but the Messi goal just killed them off. Kompany gave them a little bit of hope at the death but Alves soon saw to that. Another learning experience for City in the Champions League but I fully expect them to come back stronger next year.
Paris Saint-Germain 2 (6) v 1 (1) Bayer Leverkusen Sam (6), Marquinhos (13), Lavezzi (53)
Paris Saint-Germain win 6-1 on aggregate.
My Opinion:
Well this was a pretty one-sided affair with Paris coming through with flying colours. The damage had been done in the first leg where Paris romped to victory and stacked up the away goals. However, Sam gave Leverkusen an early lead in the second leg but his efforts proved to be in vain as Paris equalised not long after before Lavezzi put them ahead on the night. In the end, Paris strolled into the quarters with ease, thrashing Leverkusen 6-1 on aggregate. Not many teams will want to face PSG in the quarters with the likes of Ibrahimovic, Cavani and Lavezzi leading their front line.
Best Goal: Messi, Lavezzi. Winner: Messi
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