During the 1st leg of the Champions League clash between Manchester City and Barcelona, the Spanish side managed to snatch a slight advantage as their match concluded in a 2-1 victory for the team of Luis Enrique.

However, if it hadn’t been for Manchester City’s Joe Hart it could have been much worse for the Premier League team as the veteran goal-keeper had to be at his best in order to deny Messi and company from scoring more goals. In the last few moments of the game, Hart denied the Argentinean superstar from scoring a late penalty-kick. It was match to remember for Joe Hart even though his team lost.

At the end of the match, statistics show that Barcelona had controlled the match with more than 60% of possession and the Spanish side did not have any problems in establishing their typical passing style which forced Manchester City on having to defend and stay in their own half for a large part of the game.

Even though Manchester City did seem to be struggling when playing against Barcelona at the Etihad Stadium, Manuel Pellegrini stated that he was happy on how his team performed and that City still has a chance on progressing into the next stages of the European competition.

Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini spoke during a news conference and said: "I am very happy with the way we played in the second half. It was the way we must play against Barcelona. We demonstrated that in the second half with the same names. It was the way we must play from the first minute. I think we can do it. In the second half, we demonstrated we are not a lesser team than Barcelona. We have a chance."

The 2nd leg of the Champions League match involving Manchester City and Barcelona will take place on March 18 as both clubs face off in Camp Nou and Manchester City is in need of scoring goals if they want to have any hope of progressing any further.