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Soccer Tuesday: Your Running Commentary

LionelMessiBarcelona3-Levante (Getty)

By IVES GALARCEP

The UEFA Champion League knockout rounds kick off on Tuesday with the tastiest matchup of the Round of 16 as FC Barcelona travels to England to take on Manchester City (2:45pm, Fox Sports 1).

The Citizens enter as underdogs, but will like their chances of pulling off an upset against a Barcelona side riding the confidence that comes with their recent 6-0 drubbing of Rayo Vallecano over the weekend. Manchester City will offer a much tougher test though, and City has been especially tough at the Etihad, where today’s match takes place.

In the day’s other UEFA Champions League clash, Paris St. Germain takes on Bayer Leverkusen (2:45pm, Fox Sports 2) in a match PSG will be heavily favored in.

If you will be watching today’s matches, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. Mou is nothing more than a loud mouthed charlatan. His gamesmanship is petty, childish, and transparent. The guy has zero class. I think it takes more ability to manage Arsenal with one financial hand tied behind your back the way Wenger does than to manage Real Madrid and Chelski, where they back up the dump truck filled with Euros whenever they need a new player.

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  2. Barcelona just had a goal taken away by a pretty bad offside call.

    Also these announcers are really one sided. How would a one zero loss at home feel like a result? At least get some Arsenal fans or something?

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    • agreed. i dislike Barca being a Madrid fan and all, but i thought it was insane the announcers didn’t even mention that it was a bad offside call.

      just saw the “PK”…that was also a bad call. it was outside the box, IMO.

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  3. Not a fan of City at all but in my eyes that foul was outside the box, the red was deserved but that wasn’t a penalty. It doesn’t matter where Messi fouls, it is where the contact occurs.

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      • Indeed. I had to rewind a few times to make sure, so making that call live would have been very hard. It was a clear foul and a clear red card. Not a smart decision to attempt that at the very start of the second half.
        It’s not that penalty goal that may decide the tie, but the second goal, almost assured after playing a man down for a half that might. City played well with 10, imagine what might have been if they didn’t play a man down for a half.

  4. City is late to every ball, every tackle, every 50/50. Can’t even fault them too much. Barcelona is looking like the Barcelona of old. Probably really shocking to come up against a team with this skill after EPL play.

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    • I think city can really deal with a team like Barsca or Bayern.

      I know they beat Bayern in that second game but City just seem confused by European teams sometimes. Ajax beat them in the group stage last year….

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  5. Barca looking confident, and DeMichelis gets the red card and PK…why not make him score it? I know it’s Messi but those decisions to make challenges like that punish the entire team more than just the original mistake.

    and Messi scores the PK anyway

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    • I understand that Pelligrini knows and trusts DeMichelis from his prior team, but Chelsea ran over and through DeMichelis in the EPL and Barca had to see the old pro as the weak link.

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    • When I saw DeMichelis name on the starting lineup I knew that was where Barca would attack. Slow and old are not a good combo as Messi seems to get stronger as the game goes on. Watching the replay – it took several rewinds- the foul was *just* outside the box, but it was indeed a foul and a red card. It was a poor decision by DeMichelis to attempt that challenge at the very start of the second half.

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    • I don’t think it has been boring at all. Maybe there haven’t been a ton of clear-cut chances, but some of the class shown has been great. Some great players on the field in this game, the touch and speed with which they play is amazing to watch.

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    • Ya, city is getting luck some of those tackles miss or that Barca got advantage. If they landed they would have about, 3 or 4 yellows? Maybe a red card.

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  6. Someone called Dani Alves overrated a while ago. He is just hacking people like crazy this game. 4 fouls in like 15 minutes and a yellow.

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