Barca

[bluemoon27]

And don't forget the fact that we played with 10 men in the last 20mins in the first game. And what if Sergio had scored that penalty...

Ifs and buts, if joe hart wasn't in net that night we would have got a right pasting

 

[SilverFox2]

Certainly our results against Barca look good but lets be fair a mixture of bad finishing by Barca and Joe H. heroics kept the scoreline down from humiliation proportions.
The press rightly saluted Messi in both the Bayern and both City games.

Sick of this bollocks argument people turn to. If City hadn't have played like shite in the first half things might have been different. If Messi only had one leg things might have been different.

Judge a game on what occurred not on ifs buts and maybes. City really took the game to Barca and it's only because they'd been hit and miss in the first half of the season that we didn't get more credit. This calendar year despite the apparent turmoil and the talk of Messi falling out with the manager, they've been the best side in Europe by a country mile.

Having watched both legs of the game with PSG and indeed last night I'd say that we caused them the most problems. We got right at them and they were rattled. We had so many good chances but typically with Messi the way he is they created a hell of a lot. We paid them too much respect yes, but they were fantastic and Messi was incredible in the 2nd leg.

PSG got nowhere near them and Bayern had some spells of good possession. They certainly looked on par if not better than Barca at times but they crumbled and lost 3-0...

For me, it is yet another sign that things aren't that bad. Juventus proved how good a team can be in Europe despite perhaps not having star individuals. They played to their strengths and were worthy of the win. Chelsea are not a million miles ahead of us domestically. I fully believe we could have beaten PSG over two legs. I also think we'd beat Chelsea if we played them over two legs.

It's just a case of refreshing the squad and by the looks of it that's what we will do.

I still think that the result flattered us based on chances we had compared with chances they had hence my post reflected that opinion.

I agree with your last sentence that indicates that we may be able to compete better with Barca next time round.

 

[BillyShears]

And don't forget the fact that we played with 10 men in the last 20mins in the first game. And what if Sergio had scored that penalty...

Ifs and buts, if joe hart wasn't in net that night we would have got a right pasting

Without Neuer and if Barca had been a bit more clinical last night could've been worse for Pep than the Madrid defeat last year.

I definitely think that it gives us some perspective on our own troubles with Barca over the last two seasons.

Not really about making excuses but certainly from a personal point of view I don't feel as bad about our defeat this season nor about the way MP approached those matches.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

You mean Messi FC. right?

Without this man, I doubt Barca would have won half the stuff they have in recent years.

He makes legends of team-mates and people like Pep.

Unless we are now saying the buffoon which is Luis Enrique is now a master coach?

Enrique was out the door six months ago until the charm offensive to get Messi back onside.

No better than City, Chelsea or even Arsenal for that matter, without this freak of nature.

 

[pml79]

Messi needs leave barca come to city take us to the top of europe and go win the world cup then he is the best player ever

 

[Bluep*ss]

Messi needs leave barca come to city take us to the top of europe and go win the world cup then he is the best player ever

Watched both Semi- finals. My first thought was the speed of all 4 teams - passing , movement etc. On current form City would not have lived with that.
We do need to refresh our team - younger , fitter players - with skill. This would mean getting rid of Dzeko , Nasri and Yaya. and others.

Messi is the best player I have seen. I had to smile this morning when Radio5live were asking to name your favourite player. -

Obviously , Best had to come into it (Nicky Campbell had to mention Best and Dalgleish) - Best ..was good but not in the same league as Maradonna, Romario , Di Stephano.

Geoff Hurst was nominated because he won the cup for England.

It is all about opinions.

 

[Sir peace frog]

one fella that rarely gets a mention when Barcelona have tore someone a new arsehole is iniesta he was imo motm last night , messi of course gets all the headlines because he is unbelievable but iniesta was amazing ,in fact it was a fucking brilliant match from start to finish , all the players were brilliant proper world class match .

 

[crystal_mais]

not embarrassed one bit losing to Barca with that front 3. I was privileged to have been at both games this year and can say I have seen the little master in the flesh and on fire.

I will also say - there were times in both games where we had them (Dzeko header in 1st leg, Sergio penalty)

People go on about Joe Hart - he did his job, one he gets paid a lot of money to do. If I remember rightly there have been teams who have won Champions League games (Chelsea, Inter, RAGs) based on playing A defensive game and snatch wins.

Can we get Messi please? I'd love to see him embarrass the RAGS defence especially Jones facial expressions in a Derby

 

[pcylfe]

We got beat by them end of, none of this inferior "look how well little city did" mentality for me no offence.

True ^^. Not sure why all the other big european clubs seem to be that much better than any english teams at the moment. Any thoughts anyone?

 

[We're not really here]

I think the OP is spot on. The way we were savaged by the media was incredible and yet the Munich darlings didn't get anywhere near the same attacks. I felt that after watching them dismantle PSG. The same PSG who had knocked out the glorious Chelsea!
The agenda lives on and is still alive and kicking!