City Topple Mighty Barca
Although a game of this calibre could never quite be described as David vs Goliath, there's no doubt that Barcelona were strong favourites to turn over Manchester City, particularly after their 4-0 win at the Nou Camp a couple of weeks ago. So even if this result cannot truly be called shocking, at the very least it can be called upsetting the apple cart, and very, very impressive.
Because make no mistake. There can be no belittling of this result. No sweeping it under the carpet, no pretending that it's a fluke and certainly no undermining of it. Make what you want of Barcelona's injury crisis, but they were still able to send out close to a full strength team: including Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Busquets, Rakitic, Mascherano and Ter Stegen. Indeed, only Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba could be called first choice players missing. And whilst those three players are all world class and vital to Barcelona, to imply that this Barca team were nowhere near their best is a fallacy, which completely ignores just how good City were.
And City were truly exceptional, right from the first kick of the game. Were they perfect? No, central defenders Stones and Otamendi struggled at times and City were far too open on a couple of occasions. Moreover, they missed a bucketload of clear cut chances at the start of the second half, and really should have killed the game off earlier than they should have. But it's hard to argue that creating too many chances against the world's best team can be described as a negative, particularly if you put three of them into the back of the net.
That was the most impressive thing about City's result: the fact that it should have been far more comfortable than it was, and it was already fairly comfortable by the end. The first half was reasonably well-matched and 1-1 was probably fair going into the break, although City could argue that they'd shaded the chances and definitely should have had a penalty, with Raheem Sterling booked for diving despite clear contact by Umtiti. But when Barcelona scored from a clinical counter-attack, about halfway through the first half, they totally seized the momentum of the game, and City were a tad fortunate not to concede a second before half time.
But having weathered the storm, as Messi scored once and could have had a couple of assists under his belt before the break, City hit back. Barcelona gave the ball away on the edge of their own box, Aguero freed Sterling, and the winger unselfishly played the ball onto a plate for Gundogan, rather than go for goal himself.
And after half time, City took total control of the game. They kept Barca pinned back, winning the ball high up the pitch and counter-attacking time and again, as their press forced Barca into error after error. When the deserved second goal came, it had a touch of fortune about it, but City kept winning free kicks in very good areas, Busquets in particular committing three fouls in as many minutes, and when Kevin De Bruyne struck one of them sweet and true, Ter Stegen was unable to stop it. Maybe he should have done better, but it was as good a strike of a football as you'll see, and deserved to hit the back of the net.
From there City threatened to run riot, getting in time and again. De Bruyne, the man of the match, was at the heart of everything, picking stunning, clinical passes time and again. Sterling and Aguero were full of running, breaching the Barcelona defence in behind with phenomenal pace and movement that the visitors had no answer to, with Iker Gundogan picking up the pieces. And Gundogan and his midfield partner Fernandinho were once again unbelievable, winning the ball off Barcelona time and again, denying the world's best attack the opportunity to expose City's defence.
The longer the game stayed at 2-1, the more that you sensed City would pay for missed chances. And so it looked when a magical piece of skill from Luis Suarez left John Stones on his backside. Suarez picked out Andre Gomez, who had been excellent in the first half but seemed unable to cope with the energy of City after the break. Gomez should have scored, but instead slammed his shot against the bar, and City escaped.
Finally they did kill the game, with a goal that summed up everything City had done right in the game. They snapped the ball off Barca in the midfield, De Bruyne played a delightful ball in behind into the channel, Sterling's replacement Jesus Navas turned on the afterburners and put a delightful ball into the box. It bounced back off Sergio Aguero and Gundogan was there to slam it home and send the Etihad into raptures.
Whilst Barca were far from at their best, a lot of that credit has to go to City, and in particular Fernandinho, who was tackling hard and strong, breaking up play simply brilliantly. Although Otamendi and Stones behind him threw themselves into some unwise tackles, they also played their part in disrupting Barca's rhythm. Iker Gundogan was a workhorse, Sterling and Aguero ran themselves into the ground and De Bruyne produced moments of true quality.
This was a brilliant performance from Pep Guardiola's men, combining hard work with sheer quality. And that's what you have to do to beat Barcelona. You have to work incredibly hard, play out of your skin, produce moments of real class and you have to get a little bit lucky, and City produced all of those.
As for where this result leaves the two teams. Well for Barcelona it still means that they'll top the group, and realistically this result won't affect their surge towards another Champions League title at all, although they'll certainly be a little more wary if they have to travel to the Etihad again. As for City, well this result is proof that Pep Guardiola is a man who knows what he is doing, and is capable of leading this City side. There'll be those who scoff at the suggestion that this result means that City are showing that they're capable of mixing it up with Europe's elite. But given that they made it to the semi-finals last season only to narrowly lose to Real Madrid, I'd argue that they don't need to prove that anyway. What this result did prove is that on their day, City are capable of beating anyone, again something that we arguably knew before.
But crucially, this result means that City are well and truly in the driving seat to qualify for the last sixteen, and if Barca slip up against Gladbach (or Celtic but come on), City could yet pip them to the top spot. But whatever happens, City will fear nobody in the last sixteen draw. And nobody in Europe will fancy a trip to the Etihad.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Swansea look doomed. Stoke are resurgent.
- Arsenal beat Ludogorets 3-2 to qualify. Comeback.
- Joshua vs Molina. Set the date.
- Konta off to a flier in WTA elite.
No comments:
Post a Comment