Lionel Messi and Daniel Alves punished 10-man Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie at the Etihad Stadium.

Four-time World Player of the Year Messi struck from the penalty spot with 54 minutes gone after being brought down by Martin Demichelis, who was sent off.
City had their chances but Barcelona dominated possession throughout and were rewarded when Alves struck the second in the last minute.
City had set up well in an attempt to soak up Barcelona pressure and catch them on the break but the task proved beyond them after Messi punished a mistake early in the second half.
The Argentinian raced away and, although replays suggested contact by Demichelis may have been just outside the box, a straight red card was brandished and the penalty awarded.
The hosts kept on pressing but they failed to make the most of their opportunities and they were picked off again as time ran out.
Barcelona coach Gerard Martino had said the key to victory was possession and so it proved, as the visitors controlled the ball for long spells.
Yet City appeared to have been expecting that having packed midfield.
Fernandinho’s return from injury allowed manager Manuel Pellegrini to deploy five across the middle with Alvaro Negredo operating as a lone striker.
After 14 minutes largely on the back foot, but with Barca yet to create a clear-cut chance, Vincent Kompany picked out Negredo with a long ball.
The powerful forward controlled well on the edge of the box but Javier Mascherano, with whom he regularly battled, managed to scramble away.
Negredo caused more trouble in the box after Jesus Navas crossed from the right but Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson penalised him for a foul on goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Barca had another scare as Valdes was beaten in the air by Kompany at a corner but he scrambled back to gather on the line. Negredo had another chance from outside the area but shot straight at Valdes.
All these chances punctuated spells of prolonged Barca possession and the Catalans did eventually pierce the hard-working back line of Kompany and Demichelis.
Cesc Fabregas played in Andres Iniesta only for Yaya Toure to get back and Messi linked well with Xavi and Iniesta before shooting over.
Joe Hart saved well from a strong Xavi shot and Kompany bundled Messi over.
Negredo had another chance to open the scoring before half-time but glanced a header wide from Navas’ cross.
City were to regret those missed chances as Barcelona upped the tempo for the second half.
Messi certainly appeared to move up the gears and did well to release Fabregas down the left.
That attack came to nothing but Messi was clearly in the mood and had the hosts, and particularly, Demichelis in trouble as he burst through on goal.
Demichelis could not keep pace and slid in in a desperate attempt to tackle, but succeeded only in tripping his fellow Argentinian.
Contact appeared to be just outside the area but Eriksson pointed to the spot and gave Demichelis his marching orders.
Messi calmly stroked home the penalty down the centre as Hart dived to left.
Pellegrini sent on Joleon Lescott to reinforce the defence but recognised damage limitation was not an option and also introduced Samir Nasri.
Nasri was soon in the action and had a shot blocked from a Negredo lay-off.
Barca could have taken even greater command of the tie as Xavi shot over and Alves fired across goal.
City broke again but Gael Clichy wasted an opening and a well-struck Silva volley was clutched by Valdes.
The hosts, however, may have had a stroke of luck as Gerard Pique had a late goal ruled out for a marginal offside.
Edin Dzeko had a late chance for City but was harshly penalised for a foul.
There was no reprieve for City in the final minute as Alves got behind the defence and fired past Hart.

According to Foxsports

Arsenal avenged their Anfield aberration with a 2-1 defeat of Liverpool in a pulsating FA Cup fifth-round clash at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners, still reeling from last weekend’s 5-1 Premier League loss at Liverpool, twice scored in the opening 50 minutes despite being second best before surviving a second-half onslaught to set up a home quarter-final with Everton.
Arsene Wenger was described as “a specialist in failure” by Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho on Friday after last leading Arsenal to a trophy almost nine years ago, in the 2005 FA Cup, but now his side are in the last eight. The Blues are out.
Arsenal conceded four times in the opening 20 minutes at Anfield and might have gone behind twice in the opening five minutes on Sunday.
Both chances fell to Daniel Sturridge, who was unable to add to his nine goals in the previous eight games, before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put Arsenal in front.
Lukasz Fabianski was alert to deny Luis Suarez an equaliser and Arsenal broke to double their advantage when Oxlade-Chamberlain turned provider for Lukas Podolski.
The Germany forward then tripped Suarez and Steven Gerrard converted the resulting penalty.
Howard Webb might have awarded Liverpool another spot-kick when Oxlade-Chamberlain made a late challenge on Suarez, but the Uruguayan’s amateur dramatics did him no favours.
Daniel Agger headed wide of an open goal in the 87th minute when Fabianski failed to meet Gerrard’s free-kick and Arsenal held on to advance to jubilant scenes in north London.
Wenger’s team selection suggested Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 tie with Bayern Munich was his priority as he made seven changes from the side which began the dour goalless draw with Manchester United.
Yaya Sanogo made his first start and only Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and Mikel Arteta – suspended in Europe – were retained against a Liverpool side unburdened by continental competition this term.
Brendan Rodgers’ men showed their Premier League title credentials at Anfield and threatened to tear through the Gunners again.
First Gerrard slid a pass through to Sturridge, who shot into Fabianski’s legs when he should have done better.
Then Suarez lofted the ball over a static Arsenal defence and, with angle always becoming more acute, Sturridge fired into the side-netting.
The Reds found themselves behind when they cleared a corner only as far as Ozil, who turned the ball back into the area.
Sanogo brought it down on his chest and had a shot blocked by Gerrard, but the ball broke for Oxlade-Chamberlain for a composed finish.
Flamini, back from a three-match ban, was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Gerrard, becoming the fourth player booked in a feisty first half.
The hosts survived after threatening runs from Raheem Sterling and Suarez, who saw a volley across goal saved by Fabianski.
Arsenal had few moments of respite and had a promising counter-attack brought to an abrupt halt when Gerrard was booked for tripping Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was the hosts’ most-threatening attacker in the first half.
Suarez, with one goal in his previous six games, was denied by the feet of Fabianski in the opening seconds of the second half and was made to pay.
Carl Jenkinson won the ball on the right win and Arteta fed Oxlade-Chamberlain who broke down the wing and cut the ball back for Podolski to tuck in.
Still Liverpool looked the more dangerous side.
A Suarez shot dipped narrowly over before Ozil forced Jones to save sharply at the other end.
Sturridge was denied by Fabianski before Podolski clumsily tripped Suarez from behind and Webb pointed to the spot.
Gerrard sent Fabianski the wrong way.
The Poland goalkeeper had to get his timing spot on and did when Sturridge attempted to round him moments later following a defence-splitting Philippe Coutinho pass.
Liverpool appealed for another penalty when Oxlade-Chamberlain mis-timed his tackle on Suarez, whose exaggerated tumble meant Webb was unmoved. Replays suggested the official was wrong.
Liverpool introduced Jordan Henderson, who underwent a small operation on a wrist injury on Thursday, and continued to pore forward, with Suarez becoming increasingly influential and twice testing Fabianski.
Arsenal were playing on the counter-attack and substitute Santi Cazorla wasted a good opportunity set up by Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was then tripped by Gerrard.
The Liverpool skipper was fortunate not to receive a second yellow card.
Liverpool should have levelled when Fabianski failed to meet Gerrard’s free-kick and Agger headed off target as Arsenal survived again.
Sturridge tied Fabianski’s boot laces to ensure the goalkeeper had little time to waste, but that was as close as Liverpool got to Arsenal’s goal in stoppage time as the Gunners progressed.

According to Foxsports

Manchester City will take on FA Cup holders Wigan as the quarter-final draw threw up a re-match of last year’s final.

Former City favourite Uwe Rosler will take his Latics side to the Etihad Stadium where Manuel Pellegrini’s side saw off Chelsea 2-0 on Saturday, with Wigan hoping to claim another top-flight scalp after seeing off Cardiff in the fifth round.
The draw also set up the possibility of two local derbies.
If Liverpool can beat Arsenal in Sunday’s evening fixture they will be at home to Everton in the next round, while either Sheffield United or Nottingham Forest will face the winners of the rearranged fixture between Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton.
Gus Poyet will wait to see if he makes a return to his old stomping ground after his Sunderland side were drawn away to the winners of Monday’s match between his former side Brighton and Hull.

According to Foxsports

Manchester City have been granted planning permission to expand the capacity of the Etihad Stadium to more than 60,000.

Manchester City Council has confirmed that a planning application to add up 14,500 extra seats at the venue has been approved.
The Premier League club intend to increase both ends of the 47,670-capacity arena by 6,250 and add up to 2,000 additional seats around the pitch.
City made public their proposals for the stadium last summer and a formal planning application was made in November.
The increased capacity will make the Etihad Stadium the second largest in the Premier League, behind only Manchester United’s Old Trafford.
It will be the club’s second major construction project in quick succession following the building of the £200million City Football Academy adjacent to the stadium.
The CFA, which will become the training base for all the club’s teams and house medical and accommodation facilities, is due to open later this year.
Both projects underline not only City’s determination to develop world-class facilities at their Etihad Campus, but also their commitment to local regeneration.
City’s work has contributed significantly to the development of east Manchester, with a sixth-form college and a leisure and retail centre already being built alongside the CFA.
The stadium expansion, according to the planning application, is expected to created 160 temporary jobs during construction and a further 110 matchday positions once the work is complete.
The work will also continue City’s remarkable development on and off the pitch since their takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.
The stadium was built in 2000 for use in the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

According to Foxsports

Roy Hodgson will leave it up to the FA board to decide whether foreign-born players like Adnan Januzaj should play for England.

Januzaj has enjoyed a stellar season with Manchester United but the 19-year-old is yet to pledge his allegiance to one country at international level.
The forward is certainly not short of options. He can play for his country of birth – Belgium, and either Albania, Turkey or Kosovo through his parents.
England are also interested. Januzaj would have to wait until 2018 to play for the Three Lions, although that idea is complicated by the fact that the Home Nations have opted out of FIFA’s residency rules.
Hodgson is a fan of Januzaj, but he will leave it up to the FA to decide whether it wants to try to pursue the player.
“All I can say is that it’s a matter for the FA Board because it raises a lot of issues,” the England manager said.
“Until such time as the FA board have it very clear what their policy is going to be, is it going to be simply following FIFA dictates or slightly different in some way, all I can do is wait and see.
“But the one thing you have to understand with Januzaj whichever way England decide to go, with the way the rules are at the moment, there’s no way he can play for England for the next few years.”
Januzaj, who speaks little English, is thought to be assessing his options before deciding which national team he wants to pledge his allegiance to.
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere caused controversy last year when he claimed the idea of seeing the likes of Januzaj play for England made him uncomfortable.
Wilshere told a press conference last October: “The only people who should play for England are English people… If you live in England for five years it doesn’t make you English.”
Wilshere later claimed his quotes were taken out of context.
Last summer Brazil-born striker Diego Costa committed himself to playing for Spain, where he plays with Atletico Madrid.

According to Foxsports

Younes Kaboul is confident Tottenham will be playing Champions League football next season if they maintain the form they showed at Newcastle.

Spurs trounced the Magpies 4-0 at St James’ Park on Wednesday night to stay hot on the heels of fourth-placed Liverpool, and are right in the mix with 12 games of the campaign to go.
But defender Kaboul is convinced they can force their way into the top four if they can reproduce their performance on Tyneside on a consistent basis.
He told Spurs TV: “We need games like that to be up there and if we perform like that in the future – and even better, because you always have to see the best – we are going to play in the Champions League next season, without doubt.
“We need to keep like that, strong and strong mentally also, keep the concentration for 90, 95 minutes and we should be okay.”
Spurs tore Newcastle apart on a night when striker Emmanuel Adebayor once again led from the front.
It was he who fired them into a 19th-minute lead after keeper Tim Krul could only serve up Nabil Bentaleb’s cross to him on a plate.
Krul was beaten again eight minutes after the break when he managed to save Adebayor’s initial effort, only to see Paulinho pounce on the rebound, and the Dutchman was similarly unfortunate seven minutes from time when he blocked substitute Andros Townsend’s piledriver and the African accepted the invitation to claim his second of the night.
Nacer Chadli, who had also come off the bench, completed the round with an 88th-minute strike from distance to cement a victory which had been assured long before despite keeper Hugo Lloris having to make a series of saves to deny Yoan Gouffran, Mathieu Debuchy and Papiss Cisse.
Kaboul said: “It was very good, of course. We came here to get a result, but we didn’t really think we were going to win 4-0.
“To be fair, the lads gave everything on the pitch. We were very aggressive – in a good way, of course – and we scored goals and we kept a clean sheet, which is very good.”
Spurs were rampant at times as the impressive Bentaleb, Paulinho, Aaron Lennon and Mousa Dembele linked with Adebayor to leave Newcastle chasing shadows, and manager Tim Sherwood was thrilled by the flair they demonstrated.
He said: “When you get a few goals up, you are allowed to play with freedom. I want them to play with that sort of freedom from the start, and hopefully we will get there.
“But all of them, from Adebayor right back to Younes Kaboul or Hugo Lloris, they realise there’s a defensive responsibility to work hard for each other and collectively we will get where we need to be if we stick together.”
The Magpies, of course, won 1-0 at White Hart Lane in the reverse fixture in November, but both the enterprise they showed in the first half and the resilience they were able to summon up in the second there were sadly lacking on their own pitch.
They have now lost each of their last five home games and four of them on the trot in the league for the first time since 1987, and that was simply too much to bear for manager Alan Pardew.
He said: “That performance I saw out there isn’t good enough for me and it shouldn’t be good enough for our fans. Leaving early, moaning about some of the things that went on on that pitch, I understand all that, trust me.
“I wasn’t happy with that.”
Pardew, of course, saw star man Yohan Cabaye sold to Paris St Germain last month and has been without leading scorer Loic Remy through suspension and a series of other key men through injury.
Newcastle have collected just a single point from the 12 they have contested and have not scored a single goal while conceding 10 since Paris St Germain made their move for Cabaye.
However, defender Mike Williamson was refusing to use any of that as an excuse.
Williamson said: “We weren’t at a standard that a Newcastle United team and fans expect, so it’s just back to the training ground and make sure that we do get a reaction.”

According to Foxsports