Goals: Barcelona—Rakitic 31’
Recap: Ninety minutes of enthralling football saw Barcelona undress Manchester City on Wednesday.
Dominated on the pitch, City spent the opening 30 minutes succumbing to nutmeg after nutmeg from the opposition. Finished toying with their emotions, Barcelona laid down the hammer in the 31st minute. A masterful chip from Lionel Messi caressed off the chest of Ivan Rakitic. The Croatian lobbed it home. More of the same followed in the second half.
The 3-1 aggregate victory sent Barcelona to the quarterfinals for yet another season.
Key Moment: City had one chance to pull within a goal of extra time, but Sergio Aguero failed to convert his penalty in the 78th minute.
Man of the Match: Forget Man of the Match, the man of the moment right now in all of football is Messi. The four-time FIFA Ballon d’Or winner finished with an assist and 10 take-ons. Admittedly, City goalkeeper Joe Hart deserves a hat-tip for his heroic performance between the posts.
Here's that goal by Rakitic. But what an assist from Messi. #FCB 1-0 #MCFC pic.twitter.com/urZuDpIDBS
— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) March 18, 2015
Lesson Learned: The Premier League has more money, but La Liga undoubtedly has the most quality. Of the final 24 clubs that remain in Europe, five reside in La Liga. Four will reach the final 16. The only reason all five will fail to is because Sevilla and Villarreal are currently battling it out in the Round of 16 of the Europa League. As for the Premier League, only Everton remain a competitive force in Europe, with Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea all having been eliminated. It’s a valuable lesson to learn: Don’t confuse coverage with quality. Don’t assume Stoke City are a better side than Malaga because Sky Sports leads you to believe it. Some of the best clubs you’re not paying attention to reside in Spain.
Up Next: Both clubs return to league play, with Manchester City hosting West Brom on Mar. 21 and Barcelona colliding with Real Madrid in El Clasico on Mar. 22.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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