Bayern repeat feat at ten-man Arsenal

jalatama berita ~ Arsenal FC 0-2 FC Bayern MünchenFor the second year running the visitors won at Arsenal thanks to goals from Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller after each team had missed a penalty.

FC Bayern München took control of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Arsenal FC with a commanding performance in London, Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller scoring after each side had missed a first-half penalty and home goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny had been dismissed.

FC Bayern Munchen

Szczęsny was sent off on 37 minutes for bringing down Arjen Robben, and though David Alaba missed the resulting spot kick, Kroos's 54th-minute strike followed by Müller's 88th-minute header gave Bayern victory. Alaba's failure was not the only penalty miss of the night, Mesut Özil's eighth-minute effort having been turned away by Manuel Neuer for Bayern.

The match started at a frenetic pace, Kroos finding his range with a stinging third-minute shot that Szczęsny tipped away at full stretch. Bayern had beaten Arsenal here at the same stage last season en route to lifting the trophy at Wembley, but did not have everything their own way here. Arsène Wenger's surprise selection of Yaya Sanogo in place of Olivier Giroud almost paid off immediately as the 21-year-old drew a low save from Neuer.

A minute later Arsenal had an even better chance. Özil cut inside down the left and was clipped by Jérôme Boateng. The playmaker got up to take the penalty but shot centrally and his Germany team-mate Neuer reached up and tipped the ball away as he dived to his left.

The game began to find a more settled rhythm with Bayern enjoying more of the ball, though Arsenal were dangerous on the break. Sanogo, making just his second Arsenal start, sent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain racing clear but Neuer was alert to the danger and cleared. 

On 38 minutes the momentum shifted back to Bayern when Szczęsny tripped Robben after he had latched onto Kroos's chipped pass and was red-carded. On came Łukasz Fabiański to face the spot kick, but like Özil, Alaba could not make the most of his opportunity and fired against the foot of the post.

Bayern were not to be denied for long. Fabiański held one low attempt from Robben but had no chance on 54 minutes when Kroos curled a first-time right-foot effort into the top-left corner after being teed up by Philipp Lahm on the edge of the area.

Bayern were pressing Arsenal deeper and deeper. On 64 minutes Fabiański palmed away Robben's strike then Mario Götze headed wide. With two minutes left the pressure finally told as Müller nodded in Lahm's cross. There was still time for Kroos to hit the upright but the damage had already been done ahead of the second leg on 11 March.

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Lionel Messi helps Barcelona to Champions League win over Manchester City

 

MANCHESTER CITY vs BARCELONA

 

FEELING they had a point to prove, Barcelona's players delivered in style leaving Manchester City bitter and bruised. 

 

jalatama berita ~ Advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals should be a formality after Lionel Messi scored a penalty and Dani Alves added a late second to secure a commanding 2-0 advantage over City in the round of 16 today.

Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas felt confident enough to deliver a message to his team's critics: “They will have to shut up for a few days.”

It seems incongruous that Fabregas would have to be so defensive of Barcelona, given his team tops the Spanish standings, has reached the Copa del Rey final and is on the verge of reaching the Champions League quarterfinals for the seventh straight year.

“There's nothing else you can ask for,” Fabregas said.

So much for the Catalan giants being a fading force. This win, against a team that seeks to emulate Barcelona on and off the pitch, exposed the gulf between them. And City, which has spent heavily to reach the knockout phase for the first time, couldn't keep up with the elegant visitors.

“Maybe we had to prove a point in a way and I think we did it,” Fabregas said. “And I think we did it in a style.”

Waves of attacks by the Spanish champions had been repelled until the start of the second half when Martin Demichelis couldn't keep up with the speedy Messi, dragging down his fellow Argentine and conceding the penalty.

Even after Messi made it 11 goals in 11 games since returning from injury, City managed to test Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes more than had it with a full complement of players.

But City couldn't equalise against the run of play and Dani Alves successfully completed a one-two with substitute Neymar in the 90th minute to score the team's 113th goal of the season.

It was an unsettling introduction to the knockout phase of the competition for City, with Barcelona's poise and panache enabling the four-time European champions to remain in near-complete control against England's emerging force.

Rather than acknowledging the strength of the opposition, City manager Manuel Pellegrini questioned the integrity of Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson.

“From the beginning I could see the ref was not impartial to both teams,” Pellegrini said.

And Pellegrini felt that the referee was not up to managing a game of this magnitude despite being selected by FIFA for the World Cup.

A Swede lit up the night's other game. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice, between goals from Blaise Matuidi and Yohan Cabaye, as Paris Saint-Germain won 4-0 at Bayer Leverkusen.

The second legs of both games are on March 12, and wiping out a 2-0 deficit would seem to be beyond City at this stage. Especially if it struggles to break up Barcelona's flowing passing moves like at the Etihad.

Somehow, though, the hosts emerged unscathed from their hesitant start and even produced the first meaningful shot of the match after 25 minutes when Alvaro Negredo curled the ball at Valdes.

For all Barcelona's dominance, Hart had one meaningful save to make in the first half, pushing away Xavi Hernandez's long-range strike.

“I thought we maybe gave a little too much respect to them in the beginning,” City captain Vincent Kompany said. “They were there for the taking.”

But City couldn't and, after a quiet first half by his standards, Messi's key contribution came after the break, scoring his 66th Champions League goal in the 54th minute, putting him just five from levelling Raul Gonzalez's record.

Aside from Xavi firing over and Dani Alves skewing an effort wide, City looked more likely to find the net at times in the second half despite chasing shadows so often.

Then a lightening move down the right flank was completed by Dani Alves putting the ball through Hart's legs from a tight angle, giving Barca a comfortable lead as it chases a first European title since 2011.

“They are incredibly efficient,” Kompany said. “When you play against them you do realise the individual quality of this team is phenomenal and it makes it so difficult to close them down.”

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Laga Madrid kontra Espanyol diwarnai reuni keluarga

Merdeka.com - jalatama Laga leg kedua perempat final kontra Espanyol 28 Januari 2014 lalu menjadi pertandingan spesial bagi defender Real Madrid, Nacho Fernandez. Selain karena ia berhasil mencatatkan cleansheet saat turun sebagai starter di hadapan publilk sendiri, ia juga mendapatkan kesempatan langka bertanding melawan sang adik, Alex Fernandez.

Alex yang berposisi sebagai gelandang juga merupakan hasil akademi La Fabrica milik Real. Ia bergabung ke Espanyol awal musim ini karena tak kunjung mendapatkan kesempatan unjuk gigi di Madrid.

Nacho mengaku senang bisa bertanding melawan sang adik di laga resmi. Lebih istimewa lagi karena ia mampu membantu timnya lolos ke babak semifinal.

"Saya senang tujuan kami untuk terus melaju di Copa Del Rey bisa tercapai. Namun saya juga bahagia bisa bertanding melawan saudara kandung saya," kata pemain 24 tahun ini.

"Rasanya selalu luar biasa saat kami bermain bersama untuk Tim Castilla. Laga kali perempat final ini tak akan pernah saya lupakan."

Nacho dipromosikan ke tim utama Real Madrid bulan Juli lalu sebagai bek tengah pilihan keempat setelah Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, dan Pepe. Sejauh ini Nacho baru tampil sebanyak 11 laga di segala kompetisi musim ini.(isf/mri)