Barcelona vs. Manchester City Champions League Analysis, Recap: Will Lionel Messi's Penalty Miss Come Back to Haunt Him; Was Manchester City's Mediocrity Exposed?
Barcelona bounced back from a 1-0 defeat this weekend by taking down Manchester City 2-1 Tuesday in the Champions League Round of 16.
The away win all but ensures that the Catalan club will be moving on to the quarterfinals.
Here are some interesting takeaways from Barcelona's third straight victory over the English side from Manchester.
Manchester Woes Continue
It has to be disheartening for Manchester City to look at this game and wonder what it can possibly do to take down Barcelona. Playing at home, many thought that the English side could turn the tide and finally learn from last year's big defeat against Barcelona in this very same round.
But alas, it was a different day and almost the same exact result. Well, at least Manchester actually scored in this one; a year ago, Barcelona claimed a 2-0 victory in the Etihad Stadium.
But the reality is that it comes down to this -- Barcelona took advantage of its chances and did not falter at all. The scoreboard actually shows that this game was not as lopsided as one might initially think. Barcelona bossed possession (not really a shocker) and held a slim 14-12 shot advantage (6-4 in the shots on target department). Manchester won more aerials and actually managed more corners in the game. But that did not translate into goals.
Obviously, Gael Clichy's two yellow cards essentially doomed Manchester, but the team was already trailing 2-1 before that incident and looked to have the momentum in its direction.
Luis Suarez Steps Up in a Huge Way
Barcelona had possession throughout the game and yet this was far from the team's best. Part of that likely has to do with Manchester's surge after going down 2-0. The English side at that point had nothing to lose and did its utmost to push the contest to new heights.
So a lag from Barca is not shocking or even unforgivable.
But that was facilitated by Luis Suarez doing what this team hopes that Suarez will do on a more consistent basis -- score goals. He managed two this time and, while none were of the glorious variety (such as the amazing scissor kick of a few weeks ago), each goal showed the superstar's knack for being in the right place at the right time.
It was Suarez's first multi-goal game in either the Champions League or Spanish League for Barcelona. It will be interesting to see how he builds off of it.
Will Messi's Miss Haunt Him?
It was 2-1. Lionel Messi had a prime chance to score on the penalty and give his team a virtually unstoppable 3-1 aggregate lead. And then he missed.
Manchester manager Manuel Pellegrini immediately stated that it was a huge save by goalie Joe Hart and could help his team moving forward.
"It gives us more chance to win in Barcelona," said Pellegrini, according to the BBC. "It was a very important save, firstly because it was not a necessary penalty as we must control our emotions in the box, but also it would have been very difficult at 3-1."
For Messi, that was the 13th time in his career that he failed to score from the penalty spot.
And it is also the second straight game in which the superstar fails to score a goal or assist in a game. He did have a huge influence on the second goal scored and had a terrific game overall (he connected on over 90 percent of his passes, including 106 total touches in the game), but he has now gone two games without a goal or assist this season for the second time. This is also the third time this season that Messi has gone at least two games without a goal.
In the year, Messi has 14 goals and nine assists in 13 games, which is still a terrific pace. But those who predict that he can top his 91 goals in 2012 might need to remember that he might go through a few slumps here and there.
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