Man City v Barca Match Day Thread

[blueboy]

OK.....to start with - the team. What do we reckon with what we now know?

...........................Hart...............................

Zab..........Vinny..............DeM..........Kolorov...

...............Yaya............Fernandinho...............

....Navas.........................................Nasri....

....................Silva.....................................

...........................Negredo..........................

[shakencity]

I think Milner's suspended.....so stick Jovetic in there.

[blueboy]

Sorry....just copied this from something else....changed Milner for Nasri.......think Nasri is better on the ball and does his fair share of working back......if he starts to struggle, Jovetic can always come on...rather have our best 11.

[blueboy]

And that means I'd have Lezza and Clichy...but I'm guessing DeM and Kolorov will play.

[Topdawg]

I'd like Nasri to start as I think he has a little more experience and is great at holding the ball up.

[shakencity]

So would I but I can't see it.

[blueboy]

So...4-5-1

...........................Hart...............................

Zab..........Vinny..............DeM..........Clichy...

...............Yaya............Fernandinho...............

....Navas.........................................Kolorov....

....................Silva.....................................

...........................Negredo..........................

CITY SUBS: Pantilimon, Lescott, Richards, Garcia, Nasri, Jovetic, Dzeko.

[blueboy]

BARCELONA XI: Valdes, Pique, Mascherano, Alba, Alves, Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Sanchez, Messi.

[blueboy]

[Wensdi]

Why is he playing DEM again.  Garcia would be better.

[blueboy]

At CB? I'd rather have Lezza...but I guess he's thinking of DeM not giving the ball away cheaply....back to Barca...

[Wensdi]

Sorry - meant Lescott.

[blueboy]

     

[blueboy]

3 things:

1) This referee is appalling and may spoil this game.

2) Vinny & Hart need to stop giving silly long passes/throws away.

3) When we get a free kick 40 yrds from goal - get players in the box and test their back 5.

Come on City....good discipline again, not the best spectacle..but it's all about what's needed on the night.

[blueboy]

1) What did I say?....Red card...but outside the box...no pen

2) Vinny had a good game.....

3) Nearly.....

Did our best.....but with 10 men for 40 mins.....always going to be tough, big shame we conceded at the death...game pretty much over with that one....let's just hope the referee doesn't make it out of The Etihad or Manchester in one piece...what a fucker!

[titbumwilly]

Very proud of that second half.
We've beaten a better team than them (Bayern) away from home, so with King Serge back we can still do it.

[Moonchester]

we actually looked a better team without DiMi on the pitch...

[blueboy]

Brilliant defensive performance in the first half...brilliant when the nob-jockey got sent off.....

Just a massive shame we couldn't hold on at 1-0.

The ref was nothing short of a disgrace. His assistant is in line with the tackle and does nothing.

The ref is 30+ yrds away...and gives it inside the box? How sure could he have possibly have been?

No issue with the red card..DeM should've have stood him up and Vinny foolishly played Messi onside.

For the second....they looked tired...Vinny was marking space for the cross and when Clichy slipped, should've come across and covered.....

But no complaints...one save Hart had to make in the 1st half...Valdez was worked harder...

Not all lost with Sergio back.....but how MP must be ruing the fact he didn't buy a top class CB in Jan.

Onwards....tie not over, early goal at the Nou Camp....and game on.

[Jordan]

Just shows how desperate we are for a quality CB. Still not over yet, like Titbum says, we did it at Bayern. 2-0, and then nick it in extra-time. Simps.

Can't fault the players really, probably the right team (bar DeM obviously), but I maybe would have started with Nasri as he keeps the ball better than Kolarov. Anyway, good go. Shame the red card killed us.

[Guest]

Proper shame 2nd goal, brilliant once Nasri came on.

Demi was accident waiting to happen all night.

Not over but will be tough. No point holding back in 2nd leg.

[Jordan]

Sounds like Pellers will be in trouble

[Topdawg]

I was really proud of the team tonight. That is still a very decent Barca team and we were better than them in the 1st half. They had the possession but didn't create anything with it.

The lino in the 1st half was utter bollocks. There were times when then Barca player was yards offside and he gave nothing. I think the ref was a bit soft giving free kicks to Barca, but that's what you expect.

Focus on the domestic competitions full on now and just see what happens on Barca.

[Topdawg]

He's criticised the ref and quite rightly too. The ball goes into their box, Valdes comes out and tries to get to it over one of our players. He has no chance of getting it, then falls to the ground and gets the foul. I remember that happening twice in the 1st half.

I don't normally swear loudly at footy anymore, but I was effing and jeffing a bit tonight at the officials.

[Guest]

Bloody pissed southern dippers fan in talke shite saying we got taught a European lesson.  At least Cundy and Goldstein ripped him one off for saying they were not even in CL.

For the best team in the world why do they need to con the ref so much.

[blueboy]

I like the fact that we got a footballing lesson... Apparently.

I like the fact that Barca are nowhere near as good as they were, says Jose and now all the press. Apparently.

Listening to Goldstein .... he says it was beautiful football by Barca...really??? 

At 0-0.. they did nothing to challenge Hart.
At 1-0....they had how many chances?
At 1-0...who made the best chances on goal?

The players were knackered and switched off with 5 to go.

Let the press have their day.... even Jason Cundy says we were doing everything right until the penalty..

But... I thought DeM did ok until the fuck up.

MP will definitely be banned for the return leg..... But good on him, others do it and it sometimes influences the refs... but in the Nou Camp???? Can't see it. 

MP.... suck it up... He was shit and we all saw it.... except the rags and dippers.

[TMG]

My thoughts:-

No complaints from me. Thought Barca were the best side on the night but 11 v 11 there wasn't much in it

DeM deserved to be sent off and although the foul was marginally outside the box when it started I thought a pen was fair. DeM really is shit and it's MPs fault a. Because he brought him in -  very very strange decision
b. He didn't bring someone better in Jan when it was obvious to all & sundry we needed a decent partner for Vinny

The refs are always gonna favour big teams like Barca, Bayern, Milan & The Scum. We need to get to their level before we get the decisions. Imagine what the ref is gonna be like at the Nou Camp !!!

Disappointed we didn't create more clear cut chances

We desperately miss Sergio

Vinny, Yaya, Silva & Fernando are awesome

[Topdawg]

At least DM will be banned for the return leg  

[titbumwilly]

In the cold light of day, one thing for me that really stands out, is the fact that every other team in the Premiership (including Maureen's expensively assembled show pony) will have watched last night's performance and been extremely nervous now.
I think we can take some of the positives of our performance, as well as MP's perceived injustices, and use them to fire us up to really turn it on in the league now.
Can you imagine ManUre PLC going down to 10 men against Barcelona? It would've been carnage.
So, all in all, still very positive today.

[Mainerdwasmychurch]

What will scare the rest of the teams is if we somehow get the required result at barca...!!
My heart says we can but my head says it's all over......

[leopold]

The rags got battered by Barca last time they played and with 11 men. I don't think we should be too disappointed, aside from the second goal, which was unfortunate.

Still, there's always the away leg - never say never!

[Moonchester]

never..

[Mainerdwasmychurch]

I know serge will scare the shit out of em.......but it's whether we have just given ourselves too much to do.....we could see last night they started to run out of ideas after 25 mins of sideways passing.......we have to do the same again at their place and hit them hard and fast on the break.....

[Jordan]

Probably our best defensive display of the season.

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