De Bruyne Dazzles as Manchester City Crush BarcelonaDe Bruyne Dazzles as Manchester City Crush Barcelona In a scintillating display of attacking brilliance, Manchester City dismantled Barcelona 4-0 at the Camp Nou in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie. The star of the show was Kevin De Bruyne, who tormented the Barcelona defense with his incisive passing and clinical finishing. City took the lead inside 20 minutes when Raheem Sterling pounced on a loose ball in the Barcelona area. Just four minutes later, Ilkay Gundogan doubled the advantage with a superb low drive from the edge of the box. Barcelona struggled to find their rhythm and were unable to penetrate the City defense. The introduction of Lionel Messi in the second half had little impact as De Bruyne put the game beyond doubt with a sumptuous curling shot into the top corner. Riyad Mahrez added a fourth goal late on to complete the rout. City’s victory was a masterclass in attacking football, with De Bruyne pulling the strings throughout. The Belgian midfielder’s performance was hailed by manager Pep Guardiola as “one of the best I’ve ever seen.” De Bruyne completed 91% of his passes, created five chances, and scored a stunning goal. Barcelona defender Gerard Pique admitted that City were “a level above” them. “They played with a lot of intensity and we couldn’t cope with their pace and movement,” he said. With a four-goal advantage heading into the second leg, City are now firm favorites to progress to the quarterfinals. Barcelona, on the other hand, face an almost impossible task to overturn the deficit against a team that is in scintillating form.
