Lionel Messi Barcelona's 'conductor', Joe Hart a 'titan' for Man City, say Spanish press
Thursday 28 January 2016 11:47, UK
Lionel Messi's swaggering display against Manchester City had the Spanish press swooning, but Joe Hart's resistance in the City goal salvaged a shred of pride for the Premier League on a night its fourth and final club bowed out of the Champions League against Barcelona.
Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal of the game in Wednesday's last 16 second-leg, with Barcelona progressing 3-1 on aggregate after Sergio Aguero missed a late penalty - but Messi was the Croat's provider.
That 21st assist of the season was just one of a string of personal highlights that included trademark slaloming dribbles, free-kicks so nearly curled to perfection and a couple of nutmegs to boot.
A purring Luis Enrique described Messi as "the best player in the history of football" at his post-match press conference, while his old boss Pep Guardiola watched, eyes wide with delight, up in the stands.
No matter how perversely slim the scoreline, the Spanish media agreed this had been a "symphony" to savour from the little maestro.
"Messi served up a pre-clasico masterclass as Pep Guardiola watched astounded from the stands," declared Marca, whose front page depicting Messi alongside Real rival Cristiano Ronaldo reminded of another, surely tougher battle just around the corner.
"Messi showed up the visitors with every touch of the ball: nutmeg here, some dribbling there, a pass through a sea of City players. Kolarov, Demichelis, Kompany, Silva... none of them were quick enough and were forced to resort to some heavy-handed tactics.
"The final score flattered the Premier League side. Joe Hart kept City in it with a string of at least world-class saves that saved his team's blushes and stopped them crashing out of the competition with an embarrassingly heavy defeat - one that would have gone down in history.
"City never believed in a comeback."
AS followed suit, claiming City got off lightly in Catalonia, but poured praise on the "true titan" in their goal.
"City can thank heaven for the lack of accuracy exhibited by Barcelona," AS opined.
"Joe Hart was a true titan between the posts... his great game was such that it eclipsed the symphony of Leo Messi, who, in a scandalous first half, made City dance to the sound of his music.
"Messi decided to dress up as an architect and drew incredible passes that left his team-mates one-on-one against the goalkeeper, who stopped everything except for the finish of Rakitic.
"It was as much a miracle that City lost by one as the fact they finished with 11 players."
The fact that the Premier League will not be represented at the quarter-final stage for the second time in three seasons was not lost.
A simple "Espana" did the job on the front page of Marca, the paper revelling in the fact Spain has three teams among the top eight in Europe for the third season running, while noting the "English debacle" of "no club". "Three Spaniards and no English," was the blunt reminder on the front of AS.
Marca Ratings
Barcelona: Ter Stegen 7, Alves 6, Pique 8, Mathieu 6, Alba 7, Rakitic7, Mascherano 7, Iniesta 8, Messi 9, Suarez 7, Neymar 7
Manchester City: Hart - 8.5 "Possibly the best game of his life"
Sagna - 4 "Overcome by speed and skill"
Kompany - 5 "Slow with the ball"
Demichelis - 5 "Suffered"
Kolarov - 4 "Didn't see Messi"
Nasri - 3 "Should have been sent off for a kick at Neymar"
Yaya Toure - 6 "Better as a late runner into the box than in the middle"
Fernandinho - 5 "Quiet in the middle"
Milner - 4 "Gave little help"
Silva - 6 "Burdened by his less competitive team-mates"
Aguero - 6 "Penalty sealed his fate"
Navas - 6 "Offered much more than Nasri"
Bony - 5 "Facile substitution"
