Time ticked away, but the score remained unchanged.
Manchester City had enjoyed over sixty percent of the possession, while Barcelona had a mere forty percent. That was extremely rare in their past matches. More importantly, City had created more attacking opportunities than Barcelona.
This left the Barcelona fans in the stands with deeply conflicted feelings.
On one hand, they sincerely hoped Barcelona could win and repel Manchester City. On the other, they were dissatisfied with the Barcelona currently on the pitch. The team was playing far too passively, the match was ugly to watch, and they had no advantage in the situation.
Was this really Barcelona's home ground?
The Manchester City players on the opposite side looked more like Barcelona instead.
The Barcelona fans' conflicted feelings could not change the course of the match. Manchester City still controlled possession, but Barcelona's defense remained very solid.
Mourinho's defensive setup was clearly effective. It had curbed City's midfield control and penetration to a certain extent, while their counterattacks had also posed a fair threat. Most of them had been initiated by Messi.
The same was true for Manchester City.
With fewer players in midfield, Su Dong dropped deeper more often to receive the ball and link up play. Meanwhile, neither Di Maria nor Sánchez up front had managed to seize their chances and finish, making City's attack seem rather thunderous but lacking in rain.
But City had been mentally prepared for this. Even before the match, Guardiola had repeatedly urged his players to remain patient no matter what and strive to score a precious away goal.
Su Dong had made the same appeal to his teammates while doing everything he could to help the team stabilize the situation.
Everyone at Manchester City was waiting for Barcelona to make a mistake.
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