Media balls: Manchester City could have had six against Barcelona and ‘stupid’ Messi
Media balls: a look at reporting on last night Champions’ League match between Manchester City and Barcelona, which City won 3-1.
The Times says Manchester City were”brilliant”. The BBC says Manchester City were “outstanding”.
In Spain, Mundo Deportivo says Barca “ran out of batteries and watched as De Bruyne, Silva, Gundogan flew past them”. It was a”blackout”. SPORT says Barcelona were “tangled”, caught in the City trap. L’Esportiu says “City smelled blood” in the second half.
The Manchester Evening News says: “City absolutely HAMMERED Barcelona – Messi and co were lucky to escape without more of a hiding.”
James Robson reports for the MEN:
It is no exaggeration to say City could have scored six or even more against the Spanish champions. Raheem Sterling should have won a first half penalty and wasted a golden chance shortly after Kevin de Bruyne fired City ahead in the second half.
It is an exaggeration. Sterling should have had a penalty instead of a yellow card for diving. But Robson’s monocular report makes no mention of Barcelona chances. The Guardian does, however:
65 min: So close from Barcelona, as Andre Gomes rattles the crossbar from just outside the penalty area with a free shot on goal. Luis Suarez nutmegs John Stones, advances and squares the ball for Gomes who really should have scored.
Had he scored, that would have made it 2-2.
Sky notes that after Barcelona opened the scoring:
Barcelona then began to dominate, missing several chances to double their lead as City’s defence opened up.
And (wrongly):
Busquets then hit the bar with a left-footed effort which seemed destined for the goal, but City got their two-goal cushion with 16 minutes left.
City were terrific. But to claim it was one-sided affair is absurd.
By way of a footnote, Marca says Messi was involved in a post-match incident in the tunnel, in which he responded to something by calling a City player “stupid”.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 2nd, November 2016 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
