*** Barcelona v City - Official Match Thread ***

[Clowncrete]

If there is a Football god, give them Bayern in the draw......

At some point they will play and I hope Bayern or even fucling Madrid or Chelsea rip them apart.

[PrezIke]

Eff it. Eff barca. Eff mourinho. Eff chelsea. Eff the other contenders. We need to win the league and that means no more bs performances anymore. Lets do this!!!

[s1ty m]

I hate European football. I also now hate Barca. What cunts.

[guv111]

Well, that puts the seal on the evening. You can't win when you are cheated against like this with UEFA's and the referee's blessing. We've been ordinary, but the institutionalised cheating really does add a whole different dimension. I don't know if I can maintain my interest in Champions League football for as long as Barca and Bayern are allowed to prosper.

Sat here thinking exactly the same thing - i will not miss the cheating from players and officials. This competition is geared for Barca/Bayerns/Scum/RM.

Technically though - we've been second best vs these and Bayern, plenty of improvement needed and we know where.

Even taking account of technique, I think we lack in other areas too. Bottle and guts come to mind, too. We lack character.

[CTID Hants]

I hate European football. I also now hate Barca. What cunts.

Sums it up for me perfectly

[Lee_R]

We need to focus on getting a top three finish now.

Fucking hell.

Top 4 mate.

[sheblue]

Well, that puts the seal on the evening. You can't win when you are cheated against like this with UEFA's and the referee's blessing. We've been ordinary, but the institutionalised cheating really does add a whole different dimension. I don't know if I can maintain my interest in Champions League football for as long as Barca and Bayern are allowed to prosper.

Sat here thinking exactly the same thing - i will not miss the cheating from players and officials. This competition is geared for Barca/Bayerns/Scum/RM.

Technically though - we've been second best vs these and Bayern, plenty of improvement needed and we know where.

Even taking account of technique, I think we lack in other areas too. Bottle and guts come to mind, too. We lack character.

Lack character? No we lack the craft and experience to deal with the cheating, that's all. This side has plenty of character. It's still a learning curve in the CL.

[lets all have a disco]

We need to focus on getting a top three finish now.

Fucking hell.

Top 4 mate.

I dont fancy qualifying rounds.

CHEERS.

[carolina-blue]

Fuck me im hating them as much as the rags now ...What a bunch of cunts..Fans included.

Fucking agree with you here mate and that Cnut at the end when scored holy fuck how i did not put something through the telly is beyond me . Bunch of Fucktards that are going out next round for sure . This tie though was decided in the 1st leg as we all know anyway , Fuck em . We need to concentrate on making Moureen eat her fucking words now .

[london blue 2]

I agree with Carl.

Pellegrini not buying a decent fucking CB has cost us two, possibly three trophies so far. Lescott and Demi and Nasti are liabilities. Count their errors this season and that will tell you everything. It's that fucking simple.

[The Original Special One]

I can see a Real-Chelsea Final. Bayern are overrated - and have fragile temperaments; Barca are undoubtedly in decline, although any team with Messi in their lineup can't be ruled out
And PSG are just Zlatan.

And I'd luhve it...LUHVVVVE it, if Ancelotti wiped that smug grin off Mourinho's face
And justified Real's decision to offload him.

[Michigan Blue]

Anyone else think Txiki and Soriano were obsessed with that tie due to their Barca connections? The word quixotic springs to mind.

Today's team should have played on Sunday, and we should have put the "Bayern away" squad out today. We were never going to be allowed to win the tie, even if the performance was perfect.

Zero pragmatism shown in the last four days, and now we are out of one cup that we were already out of two weeks ago, and another cup that we had every chance of winning.

Much less forgivable blunder than not knowing how many goals we needed to top the group. IMO.

[PeterParker]

News regarding Sergio?

[Green & Blue]

Wound up after watching that game.Another defenders calamity to gift them the opener again today.The constant play acting from the Barcelona.The bent referee.How he could ignore that penalty is bad enough but to send off Zabaleta for questioning it topped it all off.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Ah well.Just a shame we didn't go out in the first leg with the same positive attitude as tonight.Not that we were great but the approach was right.We got into their faces and tried hard to get forward without being kamikaze about it.

I was happy at half time but it was clear that Kun wasn't fit enough to be out there.I didn't expect him to be winning all sorts of ball and running riot but he wasn't close to the game at all.Lescott alongside Vinnie I thought were excellent and some of Lescott's passing was top class.Sadly although we got closer to scoring in the 2nd half with Edin on ( I thought he was very good for his first half hour) Lescott made the crucial mistake and it was game over.

Strange through all that and we had a few players playing below par for me.Two of them were key in Nasri and Silva.Not useless by any means but not at their best.Vinnie of course was very special (and that's even with a fair few mistakes he made as well) but you would expect nothing else.

Barca are not the team they once were but tonight did a job.They were quite cautious a la Bayern last night.Attacking yes but also intent on not getting exposed.Imo we were clearly a match for them and although the ref didn't favour us ( the Messi penalty appeal aside) I doubt if his poor performance decided the match.No doubt at all that it was a pen on Edin but the ref bottled that one and equally no surprise that Zaba went mental to get sent off.

Overall I actually feel a little proud of them tonight but maybe I am in a big minority.

[guv111]

Well, that puts the seal on the evening. You can't win when you are cheated against like this with UEFA's and the referee's blessing. We've been ordinary, but the institutionalised cheating really does add a whole different dimension. I don't know if I can maintain my interest in Champions League football for as long as Barca and Bayern are allowed to prosper.

Sat here thinking exactly the same thing - i will not miss the cheating from players and officials. This competition is geared for Barca/Bayerns/Scum/RM.

Technically though - we've been second best vs these and Bayern, plenty of improvement needed and we know where.

Even taking account of technique, I think we lack in other areas too. Bottle and guts come to mind, too. We lack character.

Lack character? No we lack the craft and experience to deal with the cheating, that's all. This side has plenty of character. It's still a learning curve in the CL.

Worse technical sides than City have done better - that's my point. Most good teams have a Demechelis, a Lescott, or to a lesser extent a Milner. What we start out with most games is eight to ten technically excellent outfield footballers, yet we still manage to turn in some of the most insipid, uninspired crap imaginable. You only need look at recent performances, especially Wigan at home. That was just pissing a trophy away.

[nottsblue]

Cannot for the life of me understand why any of our boys would have shook the referees hand after the final whistle. Or the cheats masquerading as Barca players for that matter. If i was plsying i would have just gone over to where our fans were and applauded them.

[london blue 2]

News regarding Sergio?

he's hamstrung

[london blue 2]

Also if the ref had refused us a perfectly good goal and a clear Peno I'd be fuming. I blame barca for their cuntish tactics.

[zuricity]

I agree with Carl.

Pellegrini not buying a decent fucking CB has cost us two, possibly three trophies so far. Lescott and Demi and Nasti are liabilities. Count their errors this season and that will tell you everything. It's that fucking simple.

It is wrong to talk about the defense when going forward the midfield blows it. Criminal is the way Silva plays backwards instead of forwards when in the oppositions penalty area.

Against top teams we expect to be under the kosh at some point in the game. However, it is awful when in the oppositions box not to run at goal and shoot.