Day three of four of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 is complete and today’s results were rather predictable. Both Barcelona and Juventus won in convincing fashion 2-1 and hold a commanding lead going into the second leg.
Manchester City 1-2 Barcelona
Luis Suarez almost single handedly sunk Manchester City’s hopes of advancing in the Champions League. His brace in the first half hour resulted in a virtual three goal defecit at halftime. After a great goal by Sergio Aguero, it looked as if Manchester City was getting it together. Then Gael Clichy got sent off and Man City had to play the final 15 minutes down a man. Lionel Messi had a PK at the end and was going to make it 3-1 but Joe Hart got in the way to save the critical penalty. Messi then tried a diving header and looked human for once as the ball went wide from a few yards out.
It was always going to be tough for Manchester because Yaya Toure was suspended. Manchester City needed to do damage control and try to turn things around in Barcelona. With the 2-1 loss, Man City somewhat accomplished that task. They still have hope, albeit a small bit of hope to turn it around. If Lionel Messi converted his PK, they would have no hope at all.
Juventus 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Juventus may not have won the 1997 Champions League Final but they got a little bit of revenge today as they beat Borussia Dortmund in Italy. The goalscoring got hot early on as both teams traded goals off of a mistake. Carlos Tevez took the rebound from Roman Weidenfeller and scored from a couple yards out. A few minutes later, Marco Reus took advantage of a Giorgio Chiellini slip to equalize and get the all important away goal.
Alvaro Morata got the lead for Juventus once again and Juve kept it to the end. While Dortmund has the away goal, Juventus is still a goal up and has the advantage. The only problem is that they may be without Andrea Pirlo, who went down with an injury and may be out.
Tomorrow, the final day of the Champions League Round of 16 will take place. Bayer Leverkusen takes on Atletico Madrid and Arsenal plays Monaco in the unofficial “Arsene Wenger Derby.” We will have coverage of the games tomorrow.
