MC 0-2 Barca: Messi & Alves "finish" Man Xanh

The red card of center back Martin Demichelis was the "key" to help Barca win 2-0 against home team Man City in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. The two players who scored for the away team were Lionel Messi and Dani Alves.

The joy of victory of Barca players

GOAL

Barca: Lionel Messi (penalty 54'), Dani Alves (90')

Red card: Martin Demichelis (53')

Welcoming Barca, Man City actively played close and blocked the visitors' notable positions such as Leo Messi, Xavi, Iniesta or Dani Alves. It was Man Xanh's caution that made the visitors, although they controlled the ball (75%), could not create any truly dangerous scoring opportunities.

The most notable move of the first 45 minutes belonged to Man City striker Alvaro Negredo. In the 19th minute, receiving a smart pass from David Silva, Negredo broke free, dribbled past defender Gerard Pique and quickly shot from a narrow angle. Unfortunately, the ball went wide of Victor Valdes' goalpost.

In the first half, Man City's defense, with the solidity of the duo Vincent Kompany - Martin Demichelis, blocked Barca's strikers very well and repelled all attacks from the away team.

In the second half, when the home team was pushing the pace of the match to find a goal to break the deadlock, Barca unexpectedly opened the score. The person who contributed greatly to helping coach Tata Martino's team relieve their psychological stress was Man City's midfielder Demichelis. In the 53rd minute, Messi had a technical and fast dribble, forcing Demichelis to commit a foul in the penalty area. The referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot and showed the Argentine midfielder a red card. On the 11m mark, Messi easily defeated goalkeeper Joe Hart to open the score for the Catalan team. This was his 7th goal in the Champions League this season.

In the remaining minutes, due to having more players, Barca played more and more excitedly and created many dangerous situations towards Hart's goal. On the contrary, Man City was forced to push up to find an equalizer but was unsuccessful. When the home team was unable to score, Barca continued to widen the gap. In the 90th minute, starting from a combination with Neymar on the right wing, Dani Alves confidently dribbled the ball, overcoming the opponent's defender before finishing past the legs of goalkeeper Hart.

2-0 was the final score of the match and with this victory, Barca has a huge advantage before hosting Man City in the second leg at Nou Camp on March 13.

In the same match, PSG had an easy 4-0 victory over the home team Bayer Leverkusen thanks to goals from Blaise Matuidi (3'), a double from Ztalan Ibrahimovic (39', 42') and Yohan Cabaye (88'). Thus, the "Rich Man" of France has put one foot in the quarter-finals.

LINEUP

Man City: Hart, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Zabaleta, Kolarov (Lescott 58'), Silva, Toure, Navas (Nasri 58'), Fernandinho, Negredo (Dzeko 74').

Barca: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Alba, Mascherano, Fabregas (Sergi 86'), Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Messi, Sanchez.

According to Bongdaplus