By Rob Blanchette, Featured Columnist Feb 19, 2014

After a dominant display by Barcelona against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, Spanish international midfielder Cesc Fabregas aimed a dig at Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho for his pre-match comments, per ESPN.

The Catalan giants beat City 2-0 playing in their classical style of dominating possession and squeezing their opponents' territory.

It was a complete Barcelona performance on Tuesday night—the team completed no less than 780 successful passes, compared to the Premier League side's 306, per Squawka.

After the game, ESPN quoted Fabregas' interview with ITV where he said:

<< We had a great result tonight. The fans put so much pressure on and that's what makes this so win special. We had a point to prove, and we did it very well. Some people were talking a bit too much before the game and now they have to shut up for a few days. You never know in football, but in three weeks we will have to play very, very well. >>

Even though Fabregas did not refer to Mourinho by name, it is easy to translate the meaning behind his words. The Portuguese manager's former affiliations with Real Madrid means his words still seem to warrant some comment from the Barcelona camp.

As reported by BBC Sport before the match, Mourinho had been quoted saying to ITV:

<< Of course by history Barcelona is the favourite, but this Barcelona, this season, is showing that it is not the same [as] in previous years. Of course, they have [Lionel] Messi - he is special - and they have more than him. But I think this is the worst Barcelona of many, many years. >>

Fabregas obviously felt the need to reply to this damning assessment by the "Special One." The Daily Telegraph's Ben Rumsby commented on Twitter about Fabregas' words:

Lol. Fabregas telling Mourinho to shut up. Jose really winds people up.

On Tuesday night, Barcelona proved Mourinho wrong with their systematic destruction of City. If this is a side in decline, then the majority of Europe are still nowhere near the performance levels they can reach.

Fabregas and company showed how to dominate an excellent team who freely score goals at home, without having to park the bus.

You can still play attractive football and keep a clean sheet.

City looked like an inexperienced European team during the tie, and they appear to have already given away their chances of progressing to the quarter-finals of a tournament they are desperate to do well in.

The Nou Camp will be an incredibly hostile environment for them to play their natural game in, but there is little doubt they will need to produce something special to have any chance of edging past their opponents.

Barcelona cannot be discarded in the Champions League this year, and they could exact revenge for last year's humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich in the semi-final. They are coming into form at just the right time, and their undoubted quality could easily see them once again reign as the kings of European football.

People should fear this Barcelona team. With Neymar on the bench, their depth is simply incredible.

Source Bleacherreport.com

Thank you Mourinho for motivating our players :).

@Tuan

Basically, you have no idea what you're talking about. Whatever, I'm not going to waste my time trying to prove Mourinho was successful at Madrid. Most fans know that what Mourinho did for and to Madrid, very few managers could've done. It was a job well done, and I have my utmost respect for Mourinho for his hard work at my favorite club. I am disappointed that he couldn't leave a positive legacy behind with all that controversy with Barcelona and with the RM players, but he brought us to the top of the world again, and we have him and only him to thank for it.

Wow this is turning into an excellent thread. This is a great debate. As long as you guys don't lose your heads and turn to banter, you guys put up great arguements and it is hard to pick a side.

Anyone else notice that all 4 home teams lost in the Round of 16, and failed to score a goal?

City 0-2 Barcelona
Leverkusen 0-4 PSG
Milan 0-1 Atletico
Arsenal 0-2 Bayern

Pretty neat, if you ask me.

@dynastian it was actually what everyone was expecting. Although I was expecting a better resutl, I'm proud of my team, they matched the best team in the world until the red card. After that it wasn't a game of football it was a training session for pep and his players.

@KingHenry

I was actually expecting City to win that game at the Etihad. I guess the Demichelis red card really was their undoing of a lot of hard work. :/

Man, if Szcsesny deserved the red then surely Boateng deserved a yellow, no? It's hard for me to step away from my bias but it was a harsh red for Szczesny. With a full squad Arsenal put up a great fight. From that I can be optimistic and hope for a good return leg. It really was a cracker of a match for both sides up until the sending off.

Harsh red? Deserved red? What do you all think?

I think it was too harsh . Goalkeepers are constantly victims of this decisions . I think it was inevitable that Szczesny would clash into Robben's leg . Robben did act very good to make referee have no doubt and give Szczesny red. It looked like he lost his leg . However , For the sake of football . Referee should gave Szczesny yellow. Instead he gave red and top gave penalty . That red killed the match and if penalty was converted , match would have died before first half ended .

Yesterday we saw Demichelis sent off and it was absolutely deserved red because he was last man but here we have goalkeeper situation . Goalkeeper will always be last man . There is no one else behind is there ? Referees give reds far too easy to goalies this days . They should be more objective and understanding .

Also little off topic , players so often overacting to get other players send off just as Robben did . IF referees are being harsh giving reds to a player who made foul , then they should review matches afterwards and give punishments to players who dived or overacted . This is the men sport ! Even in women football there not as many divers and criers as we have in men sport . Such a shame and disgrace . This has to end .

@Marcus2011, I've noticed that about women's football too.

To add to what you said about keepers, Robben's ball was not even goal-bound. In this case, Robben taps the ball out of the way to pull the foul. Fine. Point to the spot and grant the keeper a yellow at most. There was nothing malicious in Szczesny's play.

It was 100% a red card, there is no point discussing it, it was the exact same thing as the demichielis foul last night. The issue is the rule. It's too much of a punishment to give a red card AND a penalty. If you deny a clear goal opportunity, shouldn't giving a penalty enough ? There is just as much a chance that Joe Hart would have won the 1v1 against Messi that he would have stoped the pen. Same with Robben who could have always missed (even if I doubt it). But if on top of the penalty you send off the player, it's double punishment.

The referee I think had an almost perfect game tonight, it's the rules that need to be questioned. And I'm tired that every thread is about diving, this is not the point of the discussion here. The foul was clear.

IMO, a yellow would be better in these cases. Arsenal and Szczesny are punished for the foul, Bayern get a new super clear goal opportunity, Arsenal still have a chance, the game goes on and everyone is happy.

I don't think Robben dived. His standing leg was hit by Szczesny's moving legs. He got hit around his knee, and that hurts like hell. I got hit like that once, and it damaged my LCL (lateral collateral ligament) in my left knee. Its these little fouls that appear to be harmless, but in the end are more severe than they originally seem.

Granted, I think that the rules are 100% correct in saying that the last man stopping a clear-cut opportunity to score deserves a red card, BUT this case should be overlooked for goalkeepers. Because goalkeepers pretty much have to lunge their entire body to stop the ball, and it's very easy to draw a foul out of a goalkeeper. So, the referee had a perfect game tonight, but the rules need to be looked over again (because I felt that a yellow for Szczesny and a penalty would've been more than enough punishment).

@KingHenry, I wasn't implying that Robben dove, it was a clear penalty. I was just pointing out that in that position, it's clear that Robben does not want to shoot at goal but make contact with the ball and draw the foul. Nothing wrong with that, but I only point it out because it's things like these that a ref should consider, and the goalkeeper has the most dangerous position on the field. For me it also showed inconsistency from the ref, because if Szczesny deserved that red, surely Boateng deserved a yellow card for taking down Ozil, hence Pep immediately subbing him off after half-time.

Barcelona is the real enemy of Chelsea!

boateng did get a yellow card. And Robben makes contact with the ball to go around szczesny. No one is to blame here except the rule that is in my opinion too harsh.

I remember countless games I have watched that involved an incident like this, and the game is completely changed.

@KingHenry, oh wow I completely confused Boateng with Dante. I thought Boateng came into the match with a previous yellow but it was actually Dante. My mistake.

Is there some sort of petition we can all sign that can be sent to UEFA or FIFA ?

^^^ Lol, I'm sure they have enough toilet paper as it is.

hahahahahaha good one :D very good one hahaha

Lol still laughing , but On serious note , it is frustrating that we as consumers pay their wages and still have little vote on who becomes president of UEFA or FIFA or FA and what regulations should be passed to make football better . We should have at least some say . Not asking for too much .