19 Mar 2015

Barcelona end City's hopes

3:57 pm on 19 March 2015

Barcelona have ended English involvement in the Champions League, beating Manchester City 1-0 in the second leg of their round of 16 match at the Nou Camp.

Lionel Messi shoots against Manchester City.

Lionel Messi shoots against Manchester City. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Ivan Rakitic struck the only goal as Lionel Messi inspired the home side to victory to give them a 3-1 win on aggregate and a berth in the quarter-finals.

City struggled badly in defence against Barca's pace and movement, with the breakthrough coming after 31 minutes when Messi found Rakitic, who lobbed the ball over visiting keeper Joe Hart.

Barca also hit the woodwork through Neymar and Luis Suarez, and keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved a Sergio Aguero penalty in a victory that enabled them to reach the quarter-finals for a record eighth successive year.

It is the second straight year that City have been knocked out by Barcelona at this stage.

In Thursday morning's other match Carlos Tevez scored twice for Juventus in Germany as the Italian giants eased to a 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund to go through 5-1 on aggregate.