Barcelona 1 - Man City 0 (3-1 agg): English champions bow out despite Joe Hart masterclass

Effectively this was a 1-0 massacre in the Nou Camp as England goalkeeper Hart produced a string of outstanding saves to prevent Barcelona - and Lionel Messi in particular - from running riot.

Messi turned on a masterclass as he warmed up for his head-to-head with Cristiano Ronaldo in El Classico on Sunday by leading Manuel Pellegrini’s team a merry dance at times.

He made up for his penalty miss in the first leg to set up Ivan Rakitic’s first half goal that left City - who were facing a 2-1 deficit - with too much to do as they exited the competition at the last 16 stage for the second season running.

Pellegrini’s team went down with all guns blazing and kept 11 players on the pitch for a change. But their night of frustration was summed up when Sergio Aguero blew a chance to set up a tense finale when he his 77th-minute penalty was saved by Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

In the final analysis, though, Barca could have won by a far greater margin with Luis Suarez (twice) and Neymar both striking the woodwork and Hart’s heroics frustrating the Catalans on numerous occasions.

City’s exit leaves the Premier League without a club in the last eight of Europe’s top club competition for the second time in three seasons.

And it will intensify the pressure on Pellegrini and some of his under-achieving players with City’s Abu Dhabi owners wanting to know why, despite their massive investment, they keep coming up short in Europe.

After being heavily criticised for playing two strikers in the first leg when City found themselves outnumbered in midfield, Pellegrini changed his formation. Edin Dzeko was dropped, Aguero was played as a lone striker, with playmaker David Silva in behind him in a 4-4-1-1 system.

There were other changes following the 1-0 defeat at Burnley on Saturday. Regular right-back Pablo Zabaleta was left out with Bacary Sagna taking his place, Aleksandar Kolarov replaced the suspended Gael Clichy at left-back and James Milner came in for Jesus Navas.

With the extra man in midfield, City were clearly intent on breaking up Barcelona’s possession game. 

They enjoyed some success in the early stages but it came at a cost with four of their players – Fernandinho, Kolarov, Silva and Samir Nasri – all booked, jeopardising Pellegrini’s hopes of keeping 11 players on the field for the first time in four encounters with Barcelona.

Former Barca coach Pep Guardiola – who has been linked with the City job – had just taken his seat when Neymar’s fifth- minute shot struck the inside of a post and bounced across the face of the goal, after Dani Alves had robbed a dithering Vincent Kompany on the edge of the area.

It was a major let-off for City and they had Hart to thank after 10 minutes when he saved with his legs from Messi. City created their only first-half chance when Yaya Toure cut the ball back for Milner, who looked as if he would have a straightforward tap-in until Alves slid in to get his toe to the ball and knock the City player off his balance.

Ter Stegen made a comfortable save from Kolarov but Barca started to crank it up as the half wore on and looked dangerous every time they moved forward with Messi, as usual, the danger man.

It was no surprise that the little Argentinian was the creator of their goal after half an hour, which left huge question marks over Sagna’ s positioning. He got sucked into the middle and left Rakitic completely unmarked to lob Messi’s lofted pass over the advancing Hart.

City were at full stretch at times and could have been two down just before half-time when Suarez broke clear and flicked a shot past the advancing Hart, only to see the ball strike the post.

The introduction of Navas for Nasri gave City more pace and penetration down the right in what turned out to be a frenzied, end-to-end second half.

But with City having no option to press forward, Barca had numerous chances on the break.

Rakitic shot wide while Hart blocked Alba’s close-range shot then parried Messi’s effort from further out. 

They were just the first two of a string of second-half stops as Barca cut through almost at will. City, needing two goals to force extra-time had to press forward. Navas got round the back of the defence but his cutback fell just behind Aguero. Kolarov’s shot caused a moment of panic but Barca broke and Messi looked certain to score from Neymar’s  pass. 

He danced round Fernandinho but Hart just did enough to smother his shot. Moments later, Hart denied Messi again.

City’s night was summed up after 77 minutes when Aguero was awarded a penalty after being sandwiched by Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano, only to see his shot saved by Ter Stegen.

Suarez hit the bar while Hart prevented a heavier defeat, as City’s Abu Dhabi hierarchy were left with some serious thinking to do over another Euro failure.