A Lionel Messi masterclass consigned Manchester City to a fifth straight defeat to Barcelona and ensured it was an unhappy homecoming for Pep Guardiola – writes JAMES ROBSON at the Nou Camp.
The Argentine hit a hat-trick in his first start since suffering a groin injury last month.
City simply had no answer as he struck after 17, 62 and 69 minutes.
But the Premier League leaders’ cause was hardly helped by a moment of madness from Claudio B.ravo, who was sent off for handling outside of his box with the score still at 1-0 eight minutes into the second half.
Guardiola had taken the surprise decision to leave Sergio Aguero out of his starting line-up for the second game in succession.
The plan was to pack the midfield to counter Barca’s dominance of the ball.
It didn’t work – and only raised fresh questions about the City manager’s relationship with his leading scorer.
City could point to a hand ball from Lucas Digne in the first half that should have resulted in a penalty – but they were absolutely second best on the night.
Jeremy Mathieu was sent off late on for a second bookable offence, but it had little impact on Barca who should have added to their lead when Aleks Kolarov brought down Messin in the box.
Neymar stepped up to take the spot kick, but his effort was saved by Willy Caballero.
The B.razilian didn’t take long to make up for that error – scoring Barca’s fourth after a mesmerising run in the 89th minute.
