Manchester City turned in an outstanding performance as they came from behind to beat Barcelona 3-1 on Tuesday. Two İlkay Gündoğan goals came on either side of a Kevin De Bruyne strike, as the Premier League outfit cancelled out Lionel Messi's early opener. It would now take a failure of catastrophic proportions for Pep Guardiola's side to miss out on the Champions League knockout stages.
3 things we learned from Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Barcelona
Pep Guardiola’s side turned in a thoroughly impressive performance on Tuesday.
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
City made a confident start, and attacker Raheem Sterling was unfortunate to be booked for diving after he appeared to be tripped in the penalty area by defender Samuel Umtiti. But against a team of Barça's quality, you can ill afford any lapse in concentration, and the hosts were made to pay a heavy price midway through the opening period. It was a superb counterattacking move started and finished by Lionel Messi, who took receipt of a low Neymar pass before slotting beyond Willy Caballero.
After taking the lead, Barça were very much in the ascendancy, and a string of other good chances fell their way inside the final few minutes of the half. John Stones made a crucial block to deny Luis Suárez, who headed a Messi cross over from point-blank range seconds later. After a confident start, City appeared to be on the ropes.
To their credit, Guardiola’s side weathered the storm, and forced an uncharacteristic mistake from Barça’s defence with some high pressing late in the half. Sergio Agüero promptly fed Raheem Sterling out on the right, whose low cross was tapped home by a gleeful Gündoğan. Almost from nowhere, parity was restored, and a second would’ve followed in as many minutes had Fernandinho not skewed wide from inside the penalty area. It was Barça’s turn to wait nervously for the halftime whistle.
To their relief, it arrived with the game still level, though City started the second half with the same momentum with which they'd finished the first. Indeed, lightning almost struck twice when Barça right-back Sergi Roberto lost possession deep in his own half, though his blushes were spared as Sterling buried the ball in the side netting.
Things only went from bad to worse for the visitors in the following few minutes with City taking the lead for the first time. Playmaker De Bruyne, who had been unusually anonymous throughout the opening period, sprung to life as he arrowed a free kick over the wall and into the top corner of the Barça goal. Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen was tricked into moving in the wrong direction and could only muster a vain flop as the ball sailed home.
City almost doubled their lead just past the hour, though De Bruyne couldn't quite stretch to meet Aleksandar Kolarov's low cross from the left and the ball trickled straight through the visitors' 6-yard box. Barça should've made them pay moments later as André Gomes cracked shot against the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area. The tempo was breathless.
Unsurprisingly, De Bruyne was involved when City did finally find a third goal with just over a quarter-of-an-hour remaining. A perfectly weighted pass found its way to Jesús Navas, whose drilled cross bounced out to Gündoğan. He made no mistake with an open goal, securing a crucial three points and a thoroughly impressive win for Guardiola’s side.
Manchester City: Willy Caballero; Aleksandar Kolarov, John Stones, Nicolás Otamendi, Pablo Zabaleta; Fernandinho (Fernando 60'); David Silva, İlkay Gündoğan, Kevin De Bruyne (Nolito 89'), Raheem Sterling (Jesús Navas 70'); Sergio Agüero.
Goals: Gündogan (39’, 74’), De Bruyne (50’).
Barcelona: Marc-André ter Stegen; Lucas Digne, Samuel Umtiti, Javier Mascherano, Sergi Roberto; André Gomes (Rafinha 76'), Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitić (Arda Turan 61'); Neymar, Luis Suárez, Lionel Messi.
Goals: Messi (21’).
Three things
1. Yes, Manchester City are really good
Some relatively poor form, and the drubbing they suffered at Camp Nou, may have dented Manchester City's confidence, but this game offered overwhelming evidence for the old adage that though form is temporary, class is permanent. It was a superb performance in defense and attack from City, who were rewarded for their careful pressing and ruthless counters. Pep Guardiola's side didn't set out to dominate the match, but such was the effectiveness of their counterattacking, they ended up doing so regardless.
2. Both sides enjoyed counterattacking success
This match was Barcelona against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City: the finest ball-playing team on the planet against the coach under whom they became synonymous with the tiki-taka style of possessional domination. Yet, both City and Barça looked more than happy to let their opponents have the ball, safe in the knowledge it would open up space for their forwards on the counterattack. They were right. It was a match in which Guardiola and Barça -- archetypal footballing idealism embodied in man and club -- showed their pragmatic sides.
3. Barça’s defensive cover is unconvincing
Barça's defense has long been their Achilles heel, but this match suggested it was a particularly pressing concern in the absences of Gerard Piqué and Jordi Alba. Samuel Umtiti was questionable with his positioning and Lucas Digne struggled to cope with the blistering pace of Raheem Sterling; even Sergi Roberto, whose conversion to a right-back under Luis Enrique has represented a significant personal evolution, was forced into a couple of big errors -- the first of which was catastrophic in the run-up to City's first goal. Coaches of Europe's other elite clubs will surely have been taking notes for later in the competition.
See More:
