CITY 1 - 2 FC BARCA : UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND 16

City are down but certainly not out after a spirited second-half against Barcelona kept the Champions League fires burning heading into the second leg.





The Blues were 2-0 down with barely half-an-hour played, but a much-improved display after the break saw Sergio Aguero reduce the arrears, though Gael Clichy’s sending off shortly after curtailed a complete revival of fortunes.

With almost the last kick of the game, Joe Hart saved a Lionel Messi penalty in a dramatic climax that City will take heart from.

Realistically, City’s best hope against opposition of this quality was to keep a clean sheet, but with a stellar forward line containing Messi, Suarez and Neymar, that was never going to be easy.

Arvind Kejriwal sworn in as Delhi Chief Minister

Lionel Messi To Leave Barcelona For Chelsea Or Man City

Lionel Messi puts Chelsea and Manchester City on red alert .

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner left the Argentine side for the Catalan giants when he was just 13 years old, going on to win numerous team and individual accolades.

Messi was linked with a shock summer move to Premier League champions City, whilst it was also claimed that Chelsea saw a world-record bid rejected for his services.

Barcelona and Argentina superstar Messi appeared to row back on his own comments made 24 hours earlier that rumours that he could leave the Camp Nou for Chelsea or Manchester City were "all lies".

"I always said that I would finish my career at Barcelona and then at (his home town club in Argentina) Newell's," Messi told reporters after Real Madrid's Portuguese icon Ronaldo lifted the world footballer of the year title for the second year in succession at a glittering FIFA awards ceremony.

"But I don't know where I'll be next year".

"As Cristiano (Ronaldo) said recently, football has many twists and anything can happen," added the Barca talisman, who himself won the Ballon d'Or four years in a row from 2009.

After a superb performance in Barcelona's 3-1 win over Spanish champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday, Messi had angrily dismissed talk that he wanted to leave after clashing with Barca's manager Luis Enrique and the club's board.

2014 Ballon d'or winner Ronaldo: I'd like to play with Messi and Neuer

Cristiano Ronaldo says he would be interested in playing with fellow Fifa Ballon d'Or candidates Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer in future.

Both Messi and Neuer declined to give names in their answers, but Ronaldo surprised the watching media by revealing he would like to link up with his Barcelona rival and the Germany goalkeeper.

"Football is about the present," he said. "The most important thing is the present. In the past there were great players, but for me it would be interesting to play with the two that are here with me now."

Later, Messi was asked whether he would like to take up Ronaldo's offer and play with the Portuguese one day.

"I always like playing with the best players," he said. "It may be difficult because of the teams we play for, but I like to play with the best and he is one of them."

For his part, Neuer added: "I like playing with successful teams. I have idols from the past and it would of course be wonderful to play with those great players but it would be wrong to pick out only one."

"the Portuguese said football is about the present and added that he would be keen to link up with his fellow nominees"

EPL TABLE AFTER THIS WEEKEND FEB 10,11/2014.

English Premier League

Standings

Position	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	21	15	4	2	46	19	+27	49
2	Manchester City	21	14	5	2	45	20	+25	47
3	Southampton	21	12	3	6	35	15	+20	39
4	Manchester United	21	10	7	4	34	21	+13	37
5	Arsenal	21	10	6	5	37	25	+12	36
6	Tottenham	21	10	4	7	30	29	+1	34
7	West Ham	21	9	6	6	32	25	+7	33
8	Liverpool	21	9	5	7	29	27	+2	32
9	Swansea	21	8	6	7	26	25	+1	30
10	Newcastle United	21	7	6	8	25	33	-8	27
11	Stoke	21	7	5	9	22	27	-5	26
12	Everton	21	5	7	9	30	34	-4	22
13	Aston Villa	21	5	7	9	11	23	-12	22
14	West Bromwich Albion	21	5	6	10	20	29	-9	21
15	Crystal Palace	21	4	8	9	22	31	-9	20
16	Sunderland	21	3	11	7	18	31	-13	20
17	Burnley	21	4	8	9	19	33	-14	20
18	Hull	21	4	7	10	20	27	-7	19
19	Queens Park Rangers	21	5	4	12	23	37	-14	19
20	Leicester	21	4	5	12	20	33	-13	17

RESULT OF BPL WEEK

 BPL WEEKEND RESULTS

Saturday, 10 January
Sunderland 0 Final Liverpool 1	Everton 1 Final Man City 1
Leicester City 1 Final Aston Villa 0	Burnley FC 2 Final QPR 1
Chelsea 2 Final Newcastle 0	Swansea City 1 Final West Ham 1
West Brom 1 Final Hull City 0	Crystal Palace 2 Final Tottenham 1
Sunday, 11 January
Arsenal 3 Final Stoke City 0	Man United 0 Live - 56' Southampton 0