Barcelona 2-1 Manchester City (4-1 Agg): Messi magic seals it before late flurry
The Premier League giants gave a spirited display but were undone by the Argentine superstar and Dani Alves late on, with a red card for Pablo Zabaleta compounding their misery
Mar 12, 2014 10:37:00 PM
Lionel Messi struck again for Barcelona against Manchester City to secure a 2-1 win (3-1 aggregate victory) at Camp Nou on Wednesday night and book the Catalans' place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The Argentine, who opened the scoring at the Etihad Stadium, threatened for the hosts in a first half of few chances and continued to cause problems after the restart, striking the foot of the post with Joe Hart beaten.

That let off briefly sparked Manuel Pellegrini's men into action, and the Chilean, watching from the stands, saw substitute Edin Dzeko denied by a wonderful save from Victor Valdes before Pablo Zabaleta skewed a good chance wide of the far post.

But Messi was not to be denied for much longer and, midway through the second period, the 26-year-old latched onto a through-ball from Cesc Fabregas that bobbled off Joleon Lescott before dinking the ball over Hart to virtually guarantee Barca's progression.

City's chances of scoring the three goals they needed were made even harder when Zabaleta was shown a second yellow card for dissent, with the full-back furious at the referee's decision not to award a penalty after Dzeko was swiped down by Gerard Pique.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the visitors struck a late consolation goal through Vincent Kompany, only for Dani Alves to add further gloss to the scoreline with another stoppage-time goal against City in a frantic finale.