Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas felt confident enough to deliver a message to his team’s critics after Barcelona’s victory over Manchester City on Tuesday: “They will have to shut up for a few days.”
It seems incongruous that Fabregas would have to be so defensive of Barcelona, given his team tops the Spanish standings, has reached the Copa del Rey final and is on the verge of reaching the Champions League quarterfinals for the seventh straight year.
“There’s nothing else you can ask for,” Fabregas said.
So much for the Catalan giants being a fading force. This win, against a club that seeks to emulate Barcelona on and off the pitch, exposed the gulf between them. And City, who have spent heavily to reach the knockout phase for the first time, couldn’t keep up with the elegant visitors.
“Maybe we had to prove a point in a way and I think we did it,” Fabregas said. “And I think we did it in a style.”
Waves of attacks by the Spanish champions had been repelled until the start of the second half when Martin Demichelis couldn’t keep up with the speedy Messi, dragging down his fellow Argentine and conceding the penalty.
Even after Messi made it 11 goals in 11 games since returning from injury, City managed to test Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes – more than they had with a full complement of players.
But City couldn’t equalise against the run of play and Dani Alves successfully completed a one-two with substitute Neymar in the 90th minute to score the team’s 113th goal of the season.
It was an unsettling introduction to the knockout phase of the competition for City, with Barcelona’s poise and panache enabling the four-time European champions to remain in near-complete control against England’s emerging force.
“I thought we maybe gave a little too much respect to them in the beginning,” City captain Vincent Kompany said. “They were there for the taking.”
But City couldn’t and, after a quiet first half by his standards, Messi’s key contribution came after the break, scoring his 66th Champions League goal in the 54th minute, putting him just five from levelling Raul Gonzalez’s record.
“They are incredibly efficient,” Kompany said. “When you play against them you do realize the individual quality of this team is phenomenal and it makes it so difficult to close them down.”
