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Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings: Ilkay Gundogan scores twice but who stood out most?

City recorded a famous win over the Spanish champions

Tuesday 01 November 2016 22:36 GMT

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

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1/22Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Willy Caballero – 6 out of 10

Couldn’t do anything about the goal but didn’t mess around with the ball when he had it and cleared his lines well.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Pablo Zabaleta – 7 out of 10

Got the crowd up for the game with his performance and watched Neymar well.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Nicolas Otamendi – 7 out of 10

Cut out all the mistakes that have marred his game in his most recent appearances.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

John Stones – 7 out of 10

Looked stretched at points when Barca attacked but did well on the whole.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Aleksandar Kolarov – 7 out of 10

Did little going forward but his main job was to deal with the threat of Messi, which is never easy.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Fernandinho – 7 out of 10

Broke from midfield well to support the attack and barely stopped running.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Raheem Sterling – 8 out of 10

City’s most dangerous player on the night. Should have scored just after half time but was a constant threat.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Kevin De Bruyne – 8 out of 10

Pretty anonymous until his stunning free-kick gave City the lead and was a constant threat in the second 45 minutes.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Ilkay Gündogan – 8 out of 10

Beautifully-timed run for both his two goals, arriving in the right place at the right time – something he is quickly making a habit of doing.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

David Silva – 8 out of 10

Passed through the lines well and won the free-kick cleverly for De Bruyne’s goal.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Sergio Agüero – 8 out of 10

Why didn’t he start at the Nou Camp? Aguero was exceptional as always and never gave Barca a moment to rest.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6 out of 10

His range of passing was inch perfect throughout but could be blamed for his positioning on De Bruyne’s free kick.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Sergi Roberto – 4 out of 10

Played a blind pass to allow City to equalise and almost repeated the mistake in the second half.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Javier Mascherano – 5 out of 10

Was stretched by City’s brilliant attack throughout the entirety of the second half.

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Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Samuel Umtiti – 5 out of 10

Was lucky not to give away a penalty in the first half as Sterling was booked for diving instead.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Lucas Digne – 5 out of 10

Was given a bit of a run around by Sterling but supported Neymar well when attacking.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Ivan Rakitic – 5 out of 10

His metronomic passing was a little awry but a nuisance in his defending as he hustled City’s midfielders.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Sergio Busquets – 5 out of 10

Struggled to stem City’s attack when they broke and was taken on too easily by Aguero at times.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

André Gomes – 5 out of 10

Replaced the injured Iniesta and missed a fantastic chance to equalise when he thumped the ball against the bar.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Lionel Messi – 7 out of 10

His work for the opening goal was genius as he started and finished a sublime counter attack.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Luis Suárez – 6 out of 10

Had a number of chances throughout and should have found the net with at least one of them.

Manchester City vs Barcelona player ratings

Neymar – 5 out of 10

Did really well for the opening goal but faded as the game went on.

Ilkay Gundogan struck twice as Manchester City produced a thrilling fightback to beat Barcelona 3-1 in a sensational Champions League clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Kevin De Bruyne was also on target with a sublime free-kick as City responded to Lionel Messi's early strike in remarkable fashion.

City's performance was not only an emphatic response to the 4-0 thrashing in the Nou Camp a fortnight ago that had people questioning manager Pep Guardiola's methods, but reignited their challenge in Group C.

It was a compelling, breathless contest in which both sides created numerous chances against fallible defences.

City had a strong penalty claim turned down early on while Andre Gomes hit the woodwork for Barca. Yet these were just a couple of many memorable moments that contributed to what will be remembered as a classic, and what was perhaps the dawn of a new era for City in Europe.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page to see the full player ratings.

Additional reporting by PA.

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