Been busy tonight so I haven'y seen anything about the match. By the stats it looks like Barcelona strolled through the match, would that be right? Possession 32% to 68% and Manchester City only had one corner.
Will the City players have an eye on the reverse fixture, or will they be despondent knowing they have an almost impossible task in the Camp Nou? I think we can capitalise on their misfortune in Europe and it will be a huge blow to them to go out at the first knock out stages. The clubs owners want a European trophy not a much lesser Capital One League Cup, even if I do still think we are firm underdogs.
Was the Ref at fault? Did he really make the difference between the 2 sides? http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26250792 Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini said Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson favoured Barcelona in the Spanish side's 2-0 victory at Etihad Stadium. Eriksson awarded Barcelona a penalty and sent off City defender Martin Demichelis as the visitors won the Champions League last-16 first-leg tie. Pellegrini claimed Eriksson was "not impartial to both teams". The Chilean added: "The referee decided the game. He was on Barcelona's side from the beginning until the end." Uefa will await reports from the referee and match delegate before deciding whether to charge Pellegrini with misconduct for his comments. Demichelis was sent off for a 54th-minute foul on Lionel Messi, who converted the resultant penalty to break the deadlock. Eriksson's Barcelona run-in Referee Jonas Eriksson turned down a strong penalty shout for Barcelona in a Champions League quarter-final at AC Milan in 2012. The first-leg tie finished 0-0 but Barcelona went on to win the second leg 3-1. Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola refused to criticise the official but the Spanish press were highly critical. "The referee played the ostrich and shut his eyes to several penalties, one on Alexis and the other on Puyol," said newspaper El Mundo Deportivo . Pellegrini said a referee from Sweden that "doesn't have enough experience" should not have been chosen to officiate the game, and claimed Eriksson had "arranged" a mistake he made in Barcelona's Champions League quarter-final against AC Milan in 2012 when he failed to award a penalty despite strong appeals. Pellegrini added: "Before the penalty, which was outside the area, there was a foul on Jesus Navas. He didn't control any of the game. "I think it was not a good idea to put a referee from Sweden in charge of such an important match, and a referee who made an important mistake against Barcelona in a previous match. Today he arranged it. "The more important mistake is the foul against Navas, and secondly the penalty. "Contact was outside the box - that is the foul, you cannot continue the foul. The first foul is outside the box. Before the penalty Barcelona did not have chances and we were preparing the way to score." Pellegrini spoke to Eriksson at the final whistle and said: "I just told him he decided the game and he must be very happy because he decided the game." The normally taciturn Chilean added: "I think there is more important football in Europe than Sweden. This is a big game with two important teams and maybe in this type of game you need a referee with more experience." City captain Vincent Kompany insisted his side could still win the tie, despite Barcelona doubling their lead just before full-time through Dani Alves. "If the game is the same as today, and we manage to stay away from some fouls, we have got a chance [in the second leg]," he told ITV Sport. "There was a lot of soft fouls. In the Premier League they would have not been given." The return leg takes place in the Nou Camp on Wednesday, 12 March.
he's gonna be in bother for that like, but i can see where he is coming from [video=youtube;GR9HcqJ9ZdQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR9HcqJ9ZdQ[/video] there were some dubious decisions [video=youtube;I7P_e0BdYyc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7P_e0BdYyc[/video]
If you ask me the ref was hell bent on slowing the game down for Barca. It was a freekick to man city before the penalty and it wasn't even a penalty. Ref was shocking imo. It was a sending off but it should never had got to that point.
