On an evening to forget for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, it was Claudio Bravo who attracted the worst of the headlines. With Sergio Aguero left out, the former Barcelona manager faced a major backlash, but he certainly won’t be thanking a former Barcelona ‘keeper after the Chilean stopper was sent off on his return to the Camp Nou.
City were 1-0 down to a first half Lionel Messi strike when Bravo embarrassingly played the ball straight into the path of Luis Suarez, only to throw his hands up to prevent the lob while well outside the box. His inevitable red card was a turning point in the game and saw Barcelona step up a gear and turn an even game into a demolition job.
City had played well up to that point and showed signs that they could come back into the game, with Barcelona forced into two defensive changes early on due to injuries to Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique. After the sending off though, it was almost one way traffic as Luis Enrique’s side showed their supreme quality to win the match.
Willy Caballero replaced Nolito, with Pablo Zabaleta also coming off injured, and the Argentinean couldn’t stop his compatriot Lionel Messi from securing a hat-trick despite saving a poor Neymar penalty. The sending off will now mean that Bravo will not be available when the Catalan club visit the Etihad on 1st November.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the news:
It really was a horrific error by the Chilean ‘keeper…
Even though this kind of error seems to be rare for the former Barcelona man…
Scapegoat or not, Bravo was held responsible for the defeat…
https://twitter.com/SimonPrue93/status/788841161280647169
There were the obvious Joe Hart comparisons…
https://twitter.com/iFootballPlanet/status/788832620075425792
And many questioned Pep Guardiola…
However, some stuck up for him…
And Barcelona fans were left admiring a good piece of business…
Featured Image: All rights reserved by Craig Ballantyne.