Why Joe Hart Was Manchester City's Standout Performer in March

March was hardly a vintage month for Manchester City, with their defeat to Barcelona seeing them exit the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the second consecutive season. However, for Joe Hart, it was a personal success.

The City No. 1 was by far the club’s best player during the month, with his display in the Camp Nou set to go down as one of the great goalkeeping performances in recent times. That game alone is enough to see him considered the club’s best player in March.

City were second best for long spells of the game as Barcelona created chance after chance, only to see Hart thwart them time and again. It became almost a personal duel between Hart and Lionel Messi, with the Argentinian somehow failing to score despite a plethora of opportunities.

Some of Hart’s saves defied belief. Many of them were in the mould of the great Peter Schmeichel, spreading himself to narrow the angle, making it near-impossible for the Barca forwards to find a gap to aim at.

It was arguably Hart’s greatest-ever display in a City shirt, even topping his wonderful performance against Borussia Dortmund back in 2012.

Having struggled so badly for form in the early part of last season, which resulted in him being banished from the side for six weeks as Manuel Pellegrini tried to get his goalkeeper back to his best, his excellence in the Camp Nou marked a wonderful full-circle return to prime form.

It has proven to be something of a masterstroke from Pellegrini. Hart has refocused and come back in far better mental shape.

Issues still persist, with his distribution and inability to deal with balls into the box remaining serious concerns, but he's much improved.

His confidence and shot-stopping are back to their very best. Willy Caballero, who was brought on to put some pressure on Hart, has so far failed to impress when given chances, leaving the England man firmly in possession of the No. 1 spot at the Etihad.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

What City will do with Caballero is something of a mystery. With FFP sanctions and home-grown quota rules restricting City’s transfer policy last summer, it seemed somewhat odd they spent an initial £4.4 million on a foreign reserve goalkeeper.

Keiren Westwood was available on a free transfer, a home-grown, club-trained option with plenty of experience, a goalkeeper more than good enough to play the role Caballero has. Whether Caballero will stay and try to fight Hart for his place next season remains to be seen, but with his reputation in La Liga still very much intact after a fine period at Malaga, he would hardly be short of offers.

Despite question marks over the wisdom of City spending a significant sum on a goalkeeper in a summer in which they were financially restricted, it’s clear his presence has had an effect. Costel Pantilimon, City’s backup goalkeeper last season, was never seen as an able deputy, and he departed on a free transfer to Sunderland in the summer.

Caballero appears to have had an impact on Hart, with his arrival a clear message that any dip in form would result in another period on the sidelines. The former Shrewsbury man has responded brilliantly.

If Hart’s performance in the Camp Nou is anything to go by, whoever came in during the summer, other than the very best in the world, would have struggled to oust him this season.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.