Match report
Here is the match report.
That’s all from me, but keep an eye out for Louise Taylor’s match report which will be online soon. Until then, here’s Suzanne Wrack on Chelsea’s historic win earlier today. Thanks for joining me, and enjoy your evenings.
Updated
Gareth Taylor offers his verdict: “Proud of the team, proud of the performance. We left everything out there. Disappointing to give the goal away when we did, obviously when that goes in it kills the tie ... but the performance after that, getting the [second] goal, was testament to the team. I’m disappointed, but proud. We gave it our all, that’s the biggest thing for me.”
Plenty of debate in the BT Sport studio about the lack of a red card for Laila Ouahabi’s foul on Ellen White. It’s odd that she wasn’t even booked, but I’d venture that a red would have been harsh – the contact looked accidental – and City still needed three goals to go through.
City can, of course, take heart from winning the second leg against a bona fide European powerhouse – although Barcelona missed chances to make the scoreline more comfortable. They advance to a semi-final against Lyon or PSG; defending champions Lyon won the first leg 1-0, but the second leg is on hold after a Covid outbreak in the Lyon camp.
Full time: Man City 2-1 Barcelona (agg: 2-4)
And that’s it! City win the second leg, but had left themselves too much to do – and once Asisat Oshoala had bagged an away goal for Barcelona, the tie was all but over.
94 mins: Oof, Paños almost hands City a consolation as she swipes at a cross. Park gets a boot on it, the ball deflecting wide off Ouahabi. Curiously, a goal kick is given.
92 mins: Martens really ought to have added a second for Barça here, but she mistimes her shot from six yards out.
91 mins: Putellas, probably the best player on the pitch today, wins a free-kick to once again stifle City’s forward momentum.
Updated
90 mins: Six minutes of stoppage time. Six?!
89 mins: Stanway is denied by the onrushing Paños, and was a fraction offside anyway.
88 mins: Two more Barca changes, with Jana Fernandez and Bruna Vilamala replacing Caldentey and Pereira.
87 mins: Kelly makes way for teenage forward Jessica Park. “She. Is. Rapid” offers Jonathan Pearce, in reverent tones once reserved for Sir Killalot and co.
86 mins: Chloe Kelly hasn’t given up, charging down a clearance and putting real pressure on Paños, who gets a somewhat fortunate free kick.
84 mins: Coombs and Weir combine nicely, but the one-two is broken up by a Barca touch and Panos can collect the ball.
82 mins: City continue to press and harry, but they must know the game is up now.
80 mins: Laura Coombs comes on in place of Sam Mewis for the hosts.
78 mins: Oshoala can’t carry on, and is replaced by Switzerland’s Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, who I may call AMC for short. Maria Leon also goes off, replaced by club captain Vicky Losada.
76 mins: Ellie Roebuck again prevails in a battle with Oshoala, timing her challenge perfectly as the Nigerian advanced on goal. Oshoala goes down, having landed awkwardly after leaping clear of the keeper.
74 mins: Beckie, who appears to have dropped back into the right-back slot vacated by Bronze, sends a long-range shot high and wide.
72 mins: Walsh’s lofted diagonal almost plays Beckie in, but she’s a fraction offside. Weir and Stanway come on, replacing Bronze and White. Not the two names I expected, to be honest.
Updated
Georgia Stanway and Caroline Weir are coming on for City as Gareth Taylor rolls the dice. Greenwood’s free kick is cleared by Barça, who can still afford to concede a couple more.
I think the reason Ouahabi avoided a red card was because the referee deemed that she made a genuine attempt to play the ball. On first look, that looked a fair decision.
GOAL! Man City 2-1 Barcelona (agg: 2-4) Mewis pen 68'
Sam Mewis takes responsibility, and tucks the ball into the bottom corner before racing to collect it in the comeback style.
Updated
Penalty to Manchester City!
White gets ahead of Laila Ouahabi, who clips the England forward’s leg. No red card, but a chance for City to get back ahead today at least ...
65 mins: White passes to Beckie, who whips in the cross before her teammate has time to move into the area. “My bad!” offers the Canadian in apology.
63 mins: Mewis sees a hopeful shot charged down and Barcelona immediately look to break. Their midfield three, particularly Alexia Putellas, have been excellent today, shifting the momentum with quick, neat passes.
So, City now need four goals without reply in the next 30 minutes to advance. As if that wasn’t tough enough, Barça have brought Lieke Martens off the bench in place of Hansen.
GOAL! Man City 1-1 Barcelona (agg: 1-4) Oshoala 60'
Greenwood’s attempted clearance ricochets kindly for Hansen, who advances into the area and picks out Oshoala, who can’t miss this time. That will probably kill the tie, and it had been coming.
Updated
59 mins: Barcelona come again, Hansen denied by Greenwood’s fine challenge in the area, but City fail to clear ...
58 mins: This game is getting stretched now, and Oshoala nearly gets in again from Putellas’ through ball. Roebuck races off her line and gets just enough on it.
56 mins: City keep causing Barça problems with balls over the top, with Pereira undercooking her header back under pressure from White. Panos gets off her line smartly to get there ahead of Beckie.
54 mins: Mewis gets in behind the Barca defence down the left, but overruns and has to settle for a corner. Greenwood takes it, and White can’t steer her header on target.
52 mins: City have had a fair few let-offs; can they make Barcelona pay? Ellen White runs onto Kelly’s pass and tries a snap-shot that Panos holds, with options arriving in the middle.
51 mins: Roebuck needs treatment from the physio – it may have been her ankle rather than her knee – but looks OK to carry on.
49 mins: Oof, this is another big chance for Barcelona and Oshoala! Putellas pounces on an errant pass and plays in the striker, who had found a gap between City’s centre backs. Ellie Roebuck races out and denies her with a fine block, getting a whack on the knee for her troubles, too.
47 mins: Beckie leads a City break and finds Kelly on the right. She cuts inside and lifts a cross towards White, whose header under pressure is high and wide.
46 mins: Bronze’s long ball towards White runs through to Paños as City try to start on the front foot.
Peep!
Here we go, then. No changes for either side. Can City complete the comeback?
Half-time reading:
Half time! Man City 1-0 Barcelona (agg: 1-3)
And they get it. An excellent start to the comeback mission, with one goal pulled back and none conceded – but Barça could have scored two or three on the break, with Lucy Bronze’s heroics keeping them out. There’s a long way to go. Back soon.
44 mins: Barcelona win a corner, which is sent straight into the side netting. City need the half-time whistle here ...
42 mins: Another great chance for the visitors, who have found a weakness down City’s left. This time, Caldentey is played in – but instead of testing Roebuck, she tries to square it to Oshoala, who is well covered by Dahlkemper.
Admin alert: Chloe Kelly picked up a booking for a foul on Torrejon in the build-up to that previous Barcelona chance.
Updated
41 mins: Lucy Bronze does it again! How have Barcelona not scored here? Oshoala beats the offside trap this time and sees her shot ricochet off Roebuck and back onto her shins. It looks to have trickled over the line, but Bronze is there again to toe-poke it away.
Updated
39 mins: City’s offside trap catches Bonmatí out – with the assistant, for about the third time, waiting until the Barça players sprints away before raising the flag. This weird, VAR-friendly tactic is even weirder here, because there is no VAR for this game.
37 mins: Kelly takes the corner and Mewis’ header bounces through to the keeper, with nobody in sky blue quite sharp enough to connect with it.
36 mins: Beckie again opts to shoot after Lavelle picked her out under pressure – but this time she tests Panos, who is forced to tip over the bar.
35 mins: Beckie finds space on the right-hand side and sends a speculative effort wide, to the visible annoyance of teammates waiting in the penalty area.
32 mins: Barça break upfield and Hansen’s shot is pushed back into danger. Oshoala looks certain to score ... but Lucy Bronze makes a phenomenal block on the goalline! There are big appeals for handball, but the initial replays suggest it came off Bronze’s shoulder. What a big moment that could be!
30 mins: Greenwood takes it, but can’t lift her effort over the Barcelona wall. Patri was booked for that clumsy challenge, and with good cause.
Updated
28 mins: But now Kelly goes at the Barça defence, her slaloming run stopped by Patri Guijarro, who trips the City winger. Free kick, a yard outside the penalty area ...
27 mins: A half-chance for City as Ellen White smartly brings down a long ball and works it back to Mewis – but an errant pass from Lavelle ends the move.
25 mins: City’s defence try to build from the back while behind the goal, a youth game is taking place. Such is life at the Etihad Campus, I suppose.
23 mins: Oshoala tries to hit straight back, but is flagged offside as she runs through on goal. No need for Barça to panic ... yet.
That’s the first goal Sandra Paños has conceded for club or country in two months – more than 1,200 minutes of football. And a big moment for Beckie, who would likely not have been playing had Lauren Hemp been available.
A lifeline for @ManCityWomen! 🔷
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 31, 2021
Janine Beckie gets the final touch on Alex Greenwood's delivery 👏
A crucial goal as they reduce the deficit against Barcelona.#UWCL pic.twitter.com/Whu37at0ea
Updated
Greenwood’s corner was flicked on by Mewis, and in the ensuing scramble Janine Beckie got to it first and squeezed the ball beyond Paños. Game on!
GOAL! Man City 1-0 Barcelona (agg: 1-3) – Beckie 20'
City open the scoring!
Updated
19 mins: Lavelle’s toe-poke pass in Beckie’s direction cannons away for a corner. From which ...
18 mins: Barcelona enjoy a spell of tiki-taka possession in midfield, playing at the kind of pace you might expect from a team who are 3-0 up on aggregate.
17 mins: City seem to be focusing their attacks down the right, with Beckie now stationed on that side and Chloe Kelly moving to the left.
15 mins: Janine Beckie has perhaps City’s best opening so far, but her shot from a tight angle is straight at Paños. Ellen White was well-placed in the middle, too.
12 mins: The corner is half-cleared, and Rose Lavelle’s awkward lob lands on the roof of the net. Lavelle hasn’t brought her World Cup form to England yet, but has made a solid start here.
10 mins: Lavelle picks out Beckie on the right, and her low cross finds White, who just can’t get her shot away. City then win a free-kick, and Greenwood’s delivery provokes enough uncertainty to earn a corner ...
Updated
8 mins: Greenwood slides in to deny Mariona Caldentey close to the byline; she had to time that right. Maria Leon’s corner is cleared away.
6 mins: Chloe Kelly, who is operating out wide on the right, fires in another cross. This time it’s straight at Barça keeper Sandra Paños.
4 mins: Hansen shimmies into the City area, but a loose touch allows Dahlkemper to intercept. From the corner, centre-back Pereira drags a low shot well wide.
2 mins: Barcelona just about deal with two City corners in quick succession and look to move upfield. Oshoala almost plays Caroline Graham Hansen in, an early warning for the hosts.
1 min: City are in sky blue, Barça in their all-black away kit. The hosts make an energetic start and Chloe Kelly’s cross is headed away at the far post by Torrejon, with Ellen White lurking.
Peep!
Today’s referee, Poland’s Monika Mularczyk, gets us under way after all players take the knee.
Kick-off is about five minutes away. If City can turn this around, they would be the first to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit in the Women’s Champions League. Three goals, by the way, is the total Barça have conceded in 21 league games this season. They’ve scored 103. Ay caramba...
Final prep 🏃♀️
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) March 31, 2021
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/HkTzfLv0HJ pic.twitter.com/TJv5Tuo0pj
Gareth Taylor: “We’ve proved time and time again that when things go against us, we find a way. It’s important to stay in the game in the early stages, this team has shown we can open the floodgates later in the game.”
The City manager insists the first leg was closer than the scoreline suggests, and confirms Hemp is out with an ear infection. “She’s a big loss for us today.”
Some big news from earlier on: the Arsenal manager, Joe Montemurro, is stepping down at the end of the season for personal reasons. The Australian led the Gunners to the WSL title and a League Cup in his three-year tenure.
Chelsea have already booked their semi-final place, and in some style. Emma Hayes’ side beat former winners Wolfsburg 3-0 in Budapest to complete a 5-1 aggregate win. They’ll likely play Bayern Munich in the last four, while the winners here will take on PSG or Lyon.
Gareth Taylor has made a big call in midfield, giving US teammates Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle a rare start alongside one another. No Lauren Hemp in the matchday squad; she’s reportedly suffering an ear infection. Barcelona go with the same XI that excelled in the first leg, although scoring substitute Jennifer Hermoso is out with an injury.
Team news
Man City: Roebuck; Bronze, Dahlkemper, Greenwood, Morgan; Walsh, Lavelle, Mewis; Kelly, Beckie, White.
Substitutes: Taieb, Mannion, Coombs, Stanway, Davies, Park, Weir.
Barcelona: Paños; Torrejón, Pereira, María León, Ouahabi; Bonmatí, Patri Guijarro, Putellas; Graham Hansen, Oshoala, Caldentey.
Substitutes: Cata, Codina, Melanie, Losada, Crnogorcevic, Martens, Jana, Bruna.
Preamble
Manchester City have the proverbial mountain to climb here, faced with the challenge of overturning a three-goal deficit from the first leg without allowing their free-flowing opponents so much as an away goal. That looks an especially tough task with Steph Houghton and Demi Stokes both missing from the home defence.
Chelsea’s win over Wolfsburg shows that English sides are closing the gap in Europe, but it would mark a seismic shift on the continental scene if City can somehow turn this around. In the first leg, Barça brought their unstoppable domestic form with them, and made their case as contenders to win the whole thing.
One player who hasn’t given up hope is Sam Mewis. “The first thing you need is to believe you can come back,” she said before today’s game. “We are pumped and fired up – and we have what it takes to grind it out.” We’ll find out if the US midfielder’s teammates share her optimism soon enough. Kick-off: 4pm BST.
