How Manchester City's 2-1 Loss to Barcelona Unfolded on Twitter

Manchester City headed into Tuesday evening's crunch Champions League tie with Barcelona with a point to prove.

They needed to show the Catalan giants how far they had come since the last time they met in the knockout stages of the competition. That game, in March 2014, finished 2-1 to the Catalans with City finishing the game with 10 men.

It was a very similar story this time around.

Before kick-off, there was much talk of Yaya Toure, who was serving the last instalment of a three-match ban for the red card he received against CSKA Moscow in November. The general consensus was No Yaya = No Party...

There was also plenty of talk surrounding Manuel Pellegrini's decision to play Edin Dzeko beside Sergio Aguero in a 4-4-2, with Fernando making the cut ahead of Fernandinho...

Barcelona started the match brightly, managing to keep the ball away from the hosts as much as humanly possible. The home fans welcomed Luis Suarez back to England with a chorus of boos each time he touched the balls, and many foresaw this as a bad idea...

Inevitably, it was the Uruguayan who opened the scoring in the 16th minute...

"

Suarez thrives on hate. This is why he's not taking La Liga by storm. This is why MCFC fans were wrong to boo him.

— Ali Al-Khalifa (@AliAAlKhalifa) February 24, 2015"

In the wake of the goal, Pellegrini's tactical decisions were once again doubted, and many passed comment on the apparent lack of atmosphere in the stadium...

At the half-hour mark, Barcelona doubled their advantage through a wonderful team goal. Lionel Messi evaded several challenges on the edge of the City box before passing to Jordi Alba who had acres of space—and plenty of time—on the left. The cross came in and it was Mr. Suarez who once again defied his critics...

For many, the game highlighted the chasm in quality between Spain and England's elite sides...

As City struggled to keep their heads above water in the first half, Vincent Kompany trended on Twitter thanks to his poor performance and comments he made earlier in the week about the relative difficulty of playing Stoke and the Blaugrana...

"

GOALS IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. Messi - 75 Man City - 45 'Stoke is harder than playing Barcelona' Said Kompany HAHA

— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) February 24, 2015"

Gael Clichy also trended on a wave of abuse, not least because of his crossing ability...

ITV co-commentator Lee Dixon, meanwhile, was trending as the second half started...

"

Can't handle Lee Dixon. City have had great possession in the first 5/6 minutes. After 1 and a half minutes of the second half. 

— Andrew Wadsworth (@Waddaldo) February 24, 2015"

Early in the second half, Dzeko missed a golden opportunity to pull one back for City, but he managed to aim the ball straight at Andre Ter Stegen. The Bosnian immediately started trending...

"

I'm going to have nightmares about that Dzeko miss tonight.

— weejh (@woosweejh76) February 24, 2015"

Wilfried Bony did replace Dzeko in the 68th minute, and within one minute of the change, City made a breakthrough. David Silva beautifully flicked the ball into the path of Aguero, who appeared to muscle past Bony to find the net and bring the tie back to life...

"

Gol de Sergio 'Kun' Aguero, Manchester City 1-2 Barcelona. https://t.co/yVCnLWBS5I

— Aurora Hernández. (@AuroraHdz) February 24, 2015"

"

Man City fans after that Aguero goal. http://t.co/8sU5meJ0lc

— Just Football (@JustFutball) February 24, 2015"

In the 74th minute, Clichy capped off a disappointing evening by earning a second yellow card...

"

Manchester City players watching Clichy's red card back... https://t.co/geNTvd72aj

— Footy Memes (@FootyMemes) February 24, 2015"

"

Would rather have this guy at left back than Gael Clichy pic.twitter.com/Xt39fRR21Y

— Football Funnys (@FootballFunnys) February 24, 2015"

Clichy's early exit effectively killed City's chances of making a comeback, as they simply aimed to prevent Barcelona from causing further damage. However, deep in injury time, Pablo Zabaleta brought down Messi for a penalty...which the Argentine managed to miss!

"

Messi misses the penalty.. pic.twitter.com/C2G2j8Erd8

— Football Vines (@FootballVines) February 24, 2015"

The match finished 2-1, with City having plenty to do in the return leg.

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