Barcelona wins it in style

Barcelona reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League for the seventh time on the trot by beating Manchester City 2-1 in the second match of the double-legged tie. The Spanish champions won the tie 4-1 on aggregate as they came to the match with a 2-goal advantage which they scored at the Etihad in the first leg.

Manchester City being 0-2 down in the encounter began the match with great intent as they were chased every ball. But as the clock ticked on Barca slowly took total control of the proceedings. At the end of the first half, both the teams were unable to break the deadlock as they adopted a safety-first policy knowing that the first goal could turn out to be the crucial one. The first goal of the match came in the 22^nd minute of the second half when Lionel Messi scored from a through pass from Cesc Fabregas. Later into the match Zabaleta was given the marching orders for protesting too much against the decision of the referee to rule out City’s demands of a penalty kick when Dzeko was brought down inside the area by Gerard Pique. City then got the equalizer through Vincent Kompany in the 89^th minute of the match, but it turned out to be too little too late as Dani Alves restored the 1-goal advantage in added time.

Manchester City became the second English team to be knocked out of the tournament before the quarterfinals. The pride of English football now lies on the hands of Chelsea and Manchester United. Chelsea has a real chance of qualifying for the next round as they have the away goal advantage at the end of the first leg, but things are not looking good for the Red Devils as they trail their opponent 2-0 at the end of the first leg.

• About the Author

About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.