Lionel Messi and Barcelona put on quite a show today as they eliminated Manchester City from the Champions League with a 1-0 victory at the Nou Camp.
The highlight of the return-trip matchup between Barcelona and Man City was, in general, Messi's amazing ball handling skills (more proof of those in this video) and, in specific, this nutmeg he pulled against City midfielder James Milner. Former Barcelona skipper Pep Guardiola happened to be in the stands at Camp Nou to catch the action and just watch his reaction to Messi's heroics:
It must be a good feeling when you can pull off a maneuver so filthy that the manager of a team you will likely soon face in Champions League competition can't help but react like a full-fledged fan of your team. Well played, Messi.
Messi wasn't the only one getting in on the action in the match against City. Barcelona teammate and "best friend" Neymar had a few choice maneuvers of his own. Here's the full highlight reel:
One saving grace for City fans was the performance of keeper Joe Hart, who Messi called a "phenomenon" after the match:
"He saved everything," said Messi. "We had a lot of clear chances but the keeper had a brilliant game. We can only congratulate him, but the important thing is we achieved our objective to get through."