Barcelona and Manchester City shared points on Guardiola’s return to Camp Nou. Pep Guardiola, who managed Barcelona for five years, returned to Camp Nou last night as Manchester City manager. FC Barcelona hosted the match against the Premier League side, Man City, to raise funds for the fight against ALS. However, around 91,062 audiences came to the stadium to see the match.
Match Report
The fans witnessed a highly thrilling match, even though it was a charity match. Barca boss Xavi Hernandez set up the team formation with 4-3-3. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola played his team in the same formation. But the City boss tested his bench against Barcelona.
Both teams played attacking football from the beginning of the matches. But Man City took the lead first as Julian Alvarez scored a stunning goal in the 21st minute. However, the home team didn’t take much time to find the equalizer. Barca striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leveled with the Citizens in the 29th minute with the help of Sergio Busquets. Both teams couldn’t score more in the remaining minutes. So, the first half ended in a 1-1 tie.
Returning from the break, both teams played better football than in the first half. But, the home team broke the tie first. Midfielder Frankie de Jong scored a stunning goal in the 66th minute. Memphis Depay assisted in this goal. Conceding the goal, the Citizens became desperate to equalize. They created some crucial chances. As a result, the visitors leveled the score-line once again within four minutes as Cole Palmar found the net in the 70th minute.
After that, Barcelona continued pushing the opponents. Memphis Depay, however, helped Barcelona to take the lead again. In the 79th minute, the Dutch international defeated the City goalkeeper to score that goal. It looked like Barcelona would win, but there was more drama to come.
Manchester City got a penalty kick in the injury time as a Barca defender fouled Mahrez inside the box. So, Riyad Mahrez took the shot and made no mistake. As a result, Man City leveled the scoreline again and ended the match in a thrilling 3-3 draw.