Barca proves point in a big way
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Feb 18, 2014
The game at the Etihad Stadium turned in the 54th minute on a play involving two Argentines. Lionel Messi was tripped in the penalty area by Martin Demichelis, resulting in a red card for the Man. City defender a red card and a penalty kick Messi converted.
Brazilian Dani Alves' late goal added to Barca's lead, giving the Catalan club a win it richly deserved.
Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas urges caution before anyone proclaims Barca a title favorite to win its fifth European crown.
"People have been saying this is not the same Barcelona of previous years but we've got a great a result tonight and we've proved a point to some people," he said. "We are not there yet, though. They are a good team and we still have to work hard to get through."
BAYER LEVERKUSEN-PARIS ST. GERMAIN. Ibra scored from the penalty spot and on a long-range blast, giving him 10 Champions League goals this season, while Frenchmen Blaise Matuidi and Yohan Cabaye added goals in a dominating PSG performance against outmatched Leverkusen.
It would be a happy day indeed if Mourinho EVER were to just shut up, and somehow keep his negativism, and stop his self-centered comments...what a sad jerk that man is, indeed!
As a long time fan of both teams, I admit I have recently had doubts about Barca's defense. Plus Messi's injury cast some clouds on their goal-scoring proficiency. But today, Barca showed all the haters that they have many ways to crack a nut; they showed the world that not all their secrets have been solved. Their defense was disciplined if not perfect. Their attack was always dangerous, if not frenetic. And their possession was unparalleled. Every back or lateral pass was a means to an end...the amount of forward penetration and changes of pace that resulted from those distributive passes were magical to watch. Perhaps one could say that City's game strategy was not squarely aimed at drilling Barca's defense, or that a certain missing striker cost them plenty, or that Pellegrini made some serious lineup errors. To that I say that a team is the entire sum of its parts, so all in all, Barca was the superior team today. BTW, Yaya Toure, David Villa, and Vincent Kompany were pretty awesome in their own rights. I thoroughly enjoyed the match.
And Fabregas was not offside. Pique's goal should stand. Barca 3 v 0 City.