It was always going to be a tall order for Manchester City to go to Barcelona and beat the reigning European champions in their own back yard. Yes, they defeated the Catalans in the opening round of Champions League group stage fixtures, but that was at home and it was before they suffered an onslaught of injuries that left them with very little to work with this time around.
Without Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood, Khadija Shaw and Vivianne Miedema, among others, the Cityzens put up a valiant effort, but were eventually beaten 3-0 as Barcelona secured top spot in Group C.
From a City perspective, Khiara Keating was the star of the show. Though she's had to play second fiddle to Ayaka Yamashita for most of this season, she got a chance in a big spot here and was eager to take it, making seven big stops in the first half to keep Barca's array of stars out, denying the likes of Salma Paralluelo, Ewa Pajor and Esmee Brugts to keep the score goalless as half-time approached. However, it was just before the whistle that the deadlock was broken, a trio of City players failing to deal with a ball in the box and Claudia Pina punishing them as she finally got the ball past the talented young England goalkeeper.
Barca needed to win by at least two goals to secure first place in the group and the manner in which they started the second half showed as much, with Keating totting up another couple of decent stops within the first five minutes. When Aitana Bonmati broke through one on one just before the hour though, and coolly slotted the ball in for a second, it was difficult to see a way back into the game for a City side that had worked incredibly hard defensively, but created very little on the other side, with a well-hit strike from range by Jill Roord that rattled the bar in the first half their standout moment.
Just to rub salt in the wounds, and emphasise the difference in depth that the two teams had to work with on this occasion, two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas came off the bench in the latter stages and put some real gloss on the result with a beautiful effort from range that Keating had no chance of stopping. City are still into the quarter-finals of the Champions League but as an unseeded team, meaning eight-time European champions Lyon or Women's Super League leaders Chelsea could await them in the spring.
GOAL rates Man City's players from the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium...