Blue focus now on title charge

MANCHESTER City are now left to concentrate on their title challenge following their Champions League defeat by Barcelona.

City had Pablo Zabaleta sent off as the side was beaten 2–1 in the Nou Camp to go out 4–1 on aggregate.

City captain Vincent Kompany briefly levelled the scores at 1–1 in the closing minutes.

When the score was still 0–0, particularly early in the second half, City troubled the Spanish champions but couldn’t find the goal.

But Barca should have been in the lead long before Lionel Messi finally struck after pouncing on a Joleon Lescott error in the 67th minute.

City were on the wrong end of a decision from referee Stephane Lannoy when Dzeko was denied a penalty after being clipped by Gerard Pique. Zabaleta was sent off for protesting in the resulting melee.

The result saw City eliminated from a second competition in the space of three days, following Sunday’s FA Cup loss to Wigan.

Attention now turns to the Barclays Premier League, in which they trail Chelsea by nine points, with three games in hand.