Champions League: Manchester City out of the tournament despite improved performance

Barcelona knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League amid appalling performance from French referee Stéphane Lannoy.

Manchester City needed to overturn a two-goal deficit at Camp Nou, but should have been 0-2 down early in the first half had not the referee flagged away Joleon Lescott’s foul on Lionel Messi in the box. Minutes later Barcelona scored a legitimate goal that did not stand as the linesman raised his flag. Both clubs had several chances to open the scoring in the first half, but it was not until 67 minutes when Lionel Messi used Lescott’s mistake to tap home. City introduced Dzeko, Negredo and Navas in an attempt to take something from a trip to Spain but were denied a clear penalty as Gerard Pique knocked down the Bosnian forward in the box. Infuriated City players rushed to argue with the referee and Pablo Zabaleta, who could hardly keep himself calm, received a red card. However, 10-man visitors managed to score a late goal through Vincent Kompany, only to see Dani Alves hit back in injury time to give the Catalan side another victory and place in the last eight.

Paris Saint-Germain were cruising after the first leg 4-0 victory and conceded from Sidney Sam as early as 6 minutes into the game. The hosts could have lost the home match but for numerous saves from Salvatore Sirigu, including the penalty one. Marquinhos and Ezequiel Lavezzi netted for PSG to make it 6-1 on aggregate.