Man City 3-1 Barcelona: Guardiola's side steamroller Blaugrana in second half
The good performance of the first half was nowhere to be seen in the second, after Sergi Roberto's mistake allowed City back in and they didn't let go of the bit after that
Barcelona fell to their first Champions League defeat of the season and their first ever defeat by Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s side steamrollered them in the second half.
The Blaugrana were a rabbit in the headlights as a powerful City side relentlessly pressed them after a first half in which the Catalans were on top.
City began the game how they finished it and nearly got their just rewards.
Raheem Sterling had already been fouled twice by Lucas Digne and when Kun Aguero got past the left-back and cut the ball back to the winger he was taken down again. This time by Samuel Umtiti and in the area.
He made a lot of the foul and perhaps that was what convinced the referee it was actually a dive. He booked the Englishman and Barcelona got away with one.
The hosts were pushing for the opener when Barcelona struck. That's what Luis Enrique's Barcelona can do. They can relinquish the ball and territory, sucking teams onto them before springing back out and stabbing them like a knife between ribs.
Mascherano won the back back and it found Messi, on the edge of his own box. He fired a pass out left to Neymar, who travelled with it towards City's area, returning the ball to Messi who had made it down the other end of the field to finish.
From there Barcelona began to impose themselves on the game, with Neymar forcing a fine stop from Willy Caballero and Luis Suarez heading wide.
And, like with the first goal, it was against the run of play that City got their equaliser. Sergi Roberto gave the ball away on the edge of his area and Sterling's clever reverse pass gave Gundogan a tap-in.
City came out flying the second half and quickly took the lead, when Sergio Busquets' silly foul on the edge of his own box allowing Kevin De Bruyne to power home the free-kick. Ter Stegen got a hand to the ball but couldn't keep it out - and perhaps should have.
Only good defending from Gomes against Silva prevented the hosts netting another, while at the other end he cracked the ball against the crossbar after a good surge forward by Suarez, who shook himself out of his slumber to tee up the midfielder nicely.
But it was City who got the next goal after a good move that saw Navas cross from the right and after Aguero failed to convert, Gundogan did.
The game was up for Barcelona, although they remain top of the group and should still qualify in first position. What they need to worry about is why they were so ineffective when it came to getting back into the game, and some of the worrying individual performances.
