Barca 1-0 City: What Did We Learn?

Well, City didn't get completely embarrassed by Barcelona, but that's probably the best thing that could be said about their effort as they fell 3-1 over two legs to Lionel Messi and company. So what did we learn from one of the most lopsided 3-1 ties possible?

1. City's defense ain't about that life

City didn't give up a ton of goals against Barcelona, which is an accomplishment! But City's defense was suspect throughout the two matches, making the accomplishment of not conceding a crazy amount of goals nothing more than the equivalent of getting the correct answer on a math test by doing the wrong work.

In the second leg, City's defending on the game's only match was unconscionable, with the entire back line looking more focused on watching the ball than marking a man, allowing Ivan Rakitic time to take a Messi pass down, grab a cup of tea, and put a sweet finish past Joe Hart.

Lest City want to be remembered as Arsenal With Money in Europe, the goal for future campaigns will be to advance past the round of 16. If they don't improve defensively, that won't happen any time soon.

2. Sergio Aguero is human

It was weird seeing Sergio Aguero, who has been a hero and more every single time City have required it, fail to convert a penalty in a spot where they sorely needed one. To the delusional such as myself, visions of Aguero casually slotting home the penalty, grabbing the ball out of the net, and scoring a second to force extra time ran wild.

While that wasn't to be, this was one of the rare occasions not related to injury in which Aguero let his teammates down rather than his teammates doing so to him. With all of the memorable moments he has and will continue to give City, he can miss as many penalties as he'd like and still be good in my book.

3. There's always next year

Well, City aren't going to win the Premier League, Champions League, a domestic cup, or anything at all this season. Now they can look forward to the remainder of a season where they may sack their manager, definitely need some fresh blood in the squad, and still need to hold onto a Champions League spot if nothing else. Their position in the table certainly would lead you to believe that they can accomplish the last of those items, but their form suggests that the only thing you can expect from City at the moment is the unexpected.

Do you have a different takeaway from today's game? Do you have a hot Samir Nasri take to share? Of course you do, so fire away and vote in the poll below.