Here’s Tumaini Carayol’s match report:
Full-time: Barcelona 3-0 Manchester City
That was a bit of an ordeal for City. Barcelona were brilliant and more than good value for their 3-0 win. Even if City are at their best in the second leg, they will do well to stop Barcelona scoring again. No team has ever overcome a 3-0 first-leg defeat in the WCL. The supreme Catalans look like good value to wrestle the Champions League trophy away from Lyon on this kind of form. Thanks for reading. There will be a match report here shortly.
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90+3 min: Barcelona continue to come forwards, pop, pop, popping the ball around midfield and toying with City.
90+1 min: Stanway lays the ball off to Mewis who, from the edge of the area, fires wildly over.
90 min: There’ll be four more minutes for City to endure here.
88 min: Stanway has a decent chance to get a precious away goal for City but her shot from 10 yards is straight at Panos. They really needed that.
Goal! Barcelona 3-0 Manchester City (Hermoso 86)
And that could be that for the two legs. Barcelona’s buildup play is so slick here. Hermoso plays a lovely disguised pass behind Greenwood to the onrushing Alexia, who fires a shot against the far post only for Hermoso, their top scorer, to fire home the rebound from 10 yards. They’ve been too good for City.
83 min: Barcelona thump a long ball forwards towards Martens, who is fractionally offside. Then Greenwood tries a route-one ball up towards Stanway but it runs straight through to Panos. Both teams look a bit tired in these closing stages.
81 min: The first corner is cleared and then Bronze does well to spring a counter-attack after the second corner drifts through to her … but after some good work by Weir, it fizzles out.
80 min: Crnogorčević is on for Marta at right-back for Barcelona. She’s listed as a right-back/striker. City might want to watch her if she creeps into the box. Meanwhile, Martens wins a corner after firing a cross off Stokes.
79 min: Weir Clips an accurate ball to Dahlkemper but she’s flagged offside as she heads at goal.
78 min: A free-kick for City just outside the box on the right after Hamraoui fouled Weir.
76 min: Weir drives through midfield and prods the ball left to the onrushing Hemp. But her cross is fired into the box too far ahead of Stanway.
74 min: Barcelona look to have dropped just a little deeper in the past few minutes. They will be keen not to concede an away goal and seem content to enjoy a bit of sterile possession. Their ability on the ball means that when they do get pressed by City, they are able to play through it.
70 min: Lavelle is on for Kelly and Stanway replaces White as Taylor rolls the dice. Hermoso, their top scorer (gulp!) and Hamraoui are on for Barcelona. Bonmati and Oshoala make way.
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68 min: Hemp twists inside her marker and stabs a clever chip behind the Barcelona defence but there’s not enough pace on the ball for Weir to generate power in her header at goal.
66 min: Ellen White slides in to bring a save from Panos and then Hemp clips a ball into the box that Barça head clear. This is a good spell for City. Kelly’s floated cross towards White is just to high for her but City are straight back on the ball and coming forwards again.
64 min: City just can’t get out when they play short. Their stoic belief in their principles is laudable but if they keep failing to beat this Barça press they will be 3-0 down shortly. No wonder Barça have steamrollered the Spanish league. Their energy is incredible. They play more like Klopp’s Liverpool of 2019-20 than the tiki-taka Barça sides of old.
61 min: Hansen, who has been the player of the match so far for me, has picked up a knock and is substituted. However, Like Martens (Fifa’s Best Player of 2017), has replaced her so there will be no respite for the City defence.
60 min: Oshoala bursts past Greenwood and cuts a ball back towards Aitana that is read brilliantly Walsh, who clears out to Bronze.
58 min: Mewis flicks a delightful ball through to White after a nifty dribble down the right by Kelly … but the flag goes up for offside.
Penalty saved!
56 min: Kelly slams the spot-kick straight at Panos! It’s neither in the middle of goal or to the left and is easily saved. What a chance missed for City to get back in the tie!
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Penalty to City!
55 min: Hemp jinks into the Barcelona box and is clipped by Leon. It’s a clear penalty!
54 min: The tackle that Stokes made in the lead-up to that penalty was so, so good. Hansen was clean through and her leg was cocked ready to strike. Stokes must have been frustrated as she clattered Oshoala.
Goal! Barcelona 2-0 Manchester City (Mariona 53 pen)
Mariona sidefoots crisply past Roebuck’s oustretched left arm. City have a real uphill battle ahead of them now.
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Penalty to Barcelona!
Demi Stokes makes a brilliant last-gasp tackle to prevent a Barcelona shot on goal and then leaps up and clatters Oshoala as she picks up possession. That was as clear a penalty as you will ever see.
50 min: Hansen is left on her own as a Barcelona cross finds her out on the right wing. She has space in front of her to go into but chooses to pull back a cross instead that is blocked. A moment later Oshoala is played onside by Greenwood, but her shot is blocked by Dahlkemper. Barça are finding their groove again.
48 min: City have dominated possession early in the second half, working the ball around nicely and advancing into Barcelona’s half without being able to find a killer pass.
46 min: Weir drives through midfield and pulls the Barcelona midfield across with her, enabling City to switch play and try an attack down the right. Stokes then picks up possession but a few flakes of rust fly off her as she overhits a pass out to the left.
The second half!
45 min: Demi Stokes has just returned from injury and she has been brought on for Esme Morgan, who really struggled to deal with Hansen. Stokes will offer more physicality for City and is a proper left-sided player.
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If there were any lingering questions about Barcelona’s ability to replicate their domestic form against a better calibre opponent outside of Spain, they emphatically answered them in that first half. Their pressing was intense and their passing sharp. City really need to think about varying their approach play. Too often they got caught in possession at the back and invited pressure. The left of City’s defence looked particularly susceptible, where Morgan and Greenwood looked very makeshift. But Barcelona did look vulnerable at the back themselves on the few occasions that City did get forwards. They haven’t been used to teams attacking them and City can take heart from this.
I’m having a half-time cup of tea. Here’s that goal from Oshoala. It was struck ever so sweetly.
Asisat Oshoala with a great finish! 🎯
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 24, 2021
Man City Women fall behind to Barcelona...#UWCL pic.twitter.com/LRJ8J4TVBY
Half-time: Barcelona 1-0 Manchester City
Bronze tackles her way out of trouble and sets Kelly up for a scamper down the right wing in the closing moments. She is hounded off the ball and then the half-time whistle blows. Barcelona were brilliant in that half and will wonder how they are not winning by at least three goals. Gareth Taylor has some thinking to do.
43 min: Bronze gets forward for one of the first times I can remember. She takes two Barcelona defenders with her down the right wing then turns and sets up Kelly, whose cross into the box is plucked from the air by Panos.
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41 min: Bronze signals for City to go long, rather than play her into trouble and the resulting diagonal to Hemp leads to the City player being bundled over from which they win a free-kick on the left. Greenwood zips the ball into the far post, where Mewis sweeps home only to be flagged for offside. The poor marking will encourage City though.
39 min: Oshoala weights a perfect pass to the onrushing Pereira, who nips in behind Dahlkemper, but as the forward tries to round Roebuck, the City keeper sticks out an arm and denies her. They could be 4-0 down was it not for Roebuck’s instincts.
37 min: Moments before that Barcelona goal, City had a fine chance when they went long for once. Hemp brought down a long clearance by Roebuck and slipped in White but her finish from 12 yards out was scooped over the bar. That tactic could be worth employing more often as the Barcelona press is too good for the away side to get through at the moment.
Goal! Barcelona 1-0 Manchester City (Oshoala 35)
It had been coming. A free-kick is played into the edge of the City box. Barça are first to it. Mariona lays the ball back to Oshoala, who cracks a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the area. That was a clinical finish.
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33 min: Hansen skins Morgan again. The youngster is being targeted on that side and often outnumbered. She squares to Aitana, whose shot is blocked by a collection of City legs.
30 min: City get into all kinds of trouble when a loose ball intended for Bronze is picked off. Mariona clips a beautiful ball to Alexia, whose header is straight at Roebuck. There probably wasn’t enough pace on the ball for Alexia but she could still have perhaps directed her header better.
29 min: The pace has picked up now and there’s a more even flow to the game but Barcelona’s press is still causing City some trouble when they try to play out from the back.
27 min: But then Barça nick possession and Roebuck is forced into a action again, palming a slow shot wide for a corner. Aitana clips the corner to the edge of the box, where Mariona (I think) tries to Paul Scholes a volley at goal but misses the target by a foot. It was a very good effort, though, and hit truly.
25 min: And then Hemp clips a ball to the far post , where Kelly can’t strain her neck enough to divert a header on goal. This is much better from City.
23 min: City are stoically sticking to their principles of trying to beat the Barça’s press and, for the first time since the match kicked off, they play through it brilliantly and create a fine chance. Barça are dragged out of shape and Mewis is released down the right wing, where she pulls back a cross to the onrushing Weir, who can only half connect with a bouncing ball. Her shot fails to trouble Panos in the Barcelona goal.
21 min: Roebuck is keeping City in this game. Mariona and Hansen play a couple of simple triangular passes to skip past Morgan on the right, before the Norwegian’s cut back is fired hard and low at the bottom left corner by Aitana, where the City keeper’s strong hand denies Barça a first – and what would be a deserved – goal.
19 min: Kelly was booked for a foul on Hansen in that last attack when the referee played advantage.
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17 min: City are under the cosh here. Hansen nips inside Kelly and squares to Alexia. Her low shot is blocked by Dahlkemper and City make a hash of getting the ball clear, choosing to try to play their way out of trouble and handing possession straight back to Barcelona. Here they come again.
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15 min: Roebuck saves City with a wonderful stop with her left leg after Bronze’s tackle on Pereira presented the ball to Oshoala, who opened her body to slide the ball past the City goalkeeper only to see it diverted away by some fine reactions. Hansen picks up the rebound and tries to find the top-left corner of goal but misses by a foot. Another warning to City.
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14 min: Hansen swivels her hips and cuts sharply inside Morgan before cracking a low shot at goal from 12 yards that is prevented from potentially finding goal by Oshoala, who couldn’t get out of the way. Barcelona are building a head of steam.
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11 min: Barcelona are the dominant force here. Patri is making things tick in midfield for the home side, whose passing is much sharper than City’s. Oshoala wins a corner for Barça after some good covering from Dahlkemper to block a shot from the corner of the box from the forward.
8 min: Caroline Graham Hansen goes on a delightful jinking run through the Manchester City defence. Morgan does well to track back and block her right-footed shot but Hansen regains possession and begins twisting and turning again, clipping a ball to the back post that Oshoala doesn’t read. That was lovely stuff from the Norway winger.
6 min: City haven’t got anywhere playing short so Greenwood wallops a long ball over the top in the hope of surprising the Barça backline, but it’s overhit.
4 min: Weir attempts to stab a ball through to White but it’s well read by Mariona and now it’s Barça’s turn to have a spell of possession. They’re moving the ball faster then City when they have it.
2 min: City show their intention to play their usual possession-based game from the start, knocking the ball around the back and using Roebuck in goal at every opportunity. It’s slightly risky, though.
Peep!
1 min: Following a short motivational huddle, City get the game under way. They’re wearing their strange paisley away shirts and are shooting from left to right on my telly. Barça, in their famous dark blue and red stripes, are going the other way.
We may be in Monza but this is Barcelona’s home game and the Barça anthem is blaring out of the PA system which means it is almost time for football!
Weather report: blue skies, bright sunshine and a perfect 14C temperature in Monza. Lovely.
Warm-ups in the sunshine! ☀️
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) March 24, 2021
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/HkTzfLv0HJ pic.twitter.com/33YiEUIAQq
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City manager Gareth Taylor has done his homework on Barcelona. Here’s what he had to say before the game:
It’s got all the ingredients of a fascinating game. They’re strong in their league, scoring a lot of goals, and you could say the same about us. We’ve analysed a lot of their games, especially the cup competition they lost to Atletico Madrid. They struggled to impose their game in that one. I think we have pace in our team – players at the front end who are firing. Again, we’re going to try and impose our will on them and see what happens. Both of us are very possession-based teams. We want to impose our game on the other. We’re not used to not having the ball and the same for them. We want to dominate as much as we can but understand Barcelona will have the same mentality.
Manchester City players have been made to pose for their Champions League portraits before this game. The USA international Sam Mewis has been earning plaudits for her impressive displays recently (she’s scored six goals in five games from midfield!) and here she is giving it plenty.
Barcelona’s Patri Guijarro starts in midfield for the Spanish champions. She’s a leader in the middle of the park and a player who sets the tempo for how Barça play. It’s little wonder, she watches videos of Sergio Busquets to improve her game, as Suzanne Wrack and Nick Aitken discovered when they interviewed her.
Team news
Barcelona: Panos, Maria Leon, Marta, Mariona, Alexia, Patri, Aitana, Leila, Graham, A. Pereira, Oshoala. Subs: Gemma, Meritxell, Melanie, Losada, J. Hermoso, Hamraoui, Crnogorčević, Martens, Jana.
Manchester City: Roebuck, Bronze, Dahlkemper, Greenwood, Morgan, Walsh, Mewis, Weir, Kelly, Hemp, White (C) Subs: Taieb, Keating, Beckie, Stanway, Mannion, Lavelle, Coombs, Stokes, Park, Davies.
Preamble
Good morning/afternoon. This could be a cracking first leg. The Spanish champions are on a run of 12 wins in a row in all competitions with a goal difference of F49 A1. Manchester City, meanwhile, have won all nine games since losing to Chelsea in the cup in January and have scored 32 and conceded only twice in that winning run. In the league City have just won their 10th game in a row but Barcelona can raise that with a record-breaking run of 20 straight wins in which they have scored 99 and conceded three. So, in short, these Champions League rivals are in spectacular form. Something’s got to give.
The tie has certainly got Alex Greenwood licking her lips: “It’s such a buzz to think you’re playing against some of the top players in the world,” said the City full-back. “It gets your adrenaline going automatically. Those are the teams and players you want to play against. They’re a really top team. We’re fully aware of them … they’re very similar to us in how they play and the way they possess the ball. It will be a great game and a great test for us.” City will have to meet that test without their captain, Steph Houghton, who is still recovering from an achilles complaint.
Barcelona are desperate to get to another Champions League final, having lost 4-1 to Lyon in 2019 when they made it all the way. The Class of 2021 is on another level to that team, though. “We’re moving forward, we’re on the right track,” said Barça’s dominant midfielder Patri Guijarro in an interview with the Guardian. “I think we need to keep going, improving and correcting things as we go on, and we’ll get there – hopefully sooner rather than later.” The battle for control in midfield between Guijarro and City’s in-form Sam Mewis could be a key one.
The game has been moved from Barcelona to Monza in Italy because of Covid restrictions and whoever makes it to the semi-finals will likely meet reigning champions Lyon, who have won the competition five times in a row. With the records these teams have, whoever makes it through should fear no one.
Kick-off: 11.30am GMT.
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