Neues » season series with the Bucks

MANCHESTER, England -- Feeling they had a point to prove, Barcelonas players delivered in style leaving Manchester City bitter and bruised. Advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals should be a formality after Lionel Messi scored a penalty and Dani Alves added a late second to secure a commanding 2-0 advantage over City in the round of 16 on Tuesday. Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas felt confident enough to deliver a message to his teams critics: "They will have to shut up for a few days." It seems incongruous that Fabregas would have to be so defensive of Barcelona, given his team tops the Spanish standings, has reached the Copa del Rey final and is on the verge of reaching the Champions League quarterfinals for the seventh straight year. "Theres nothing else you can ask for," Fabregas said. So much for the Catalan giants being a fading force. This win, against a team that seeks to emulate Barcelona on and off the pitch, exposed the gulf between them. And City, which has spent heavily to reach the knockout phase for the first time, couldnt keep up with the elegant visitors. "Maybe we had to prove a point in a way and I think we did it," Fabregas said. "And I think we did it in a style." Waves of attacks by the Spanish champions had been repelled until the start of the second half when Martin Demichelis couldnt keep up with the speedy Messi, dragging down his fellow Argentine and conceding the penalty. Even after Messi made it 11 goals in 11 games since returning from injury, City managed to test Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes more than had it with a full complement of players. But City couldnt equalize against the run of play and Dani Alves successfully completed a one-two with substitute Neymar in the 90th minute to score the teams 113th goal of the season. It was an unsettling introduction to the knockout phase of the competition for City, with Barcelonas poise and panache enabling the four-time European champions to remain in near-complete control against Englands emerging force. Rather than acknowledging the strength of the opposition, City manager Manuel Pellegrini questioned the integrity of Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson. "From the beginning I could see the ref was not impartial to both teams," Pellegrini said. And Pellegrini felt that the referee was not up to managing a game of this magnitude despite being selected by FIFA for the World Cup. A Swede lit up the nights other game. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice, between goals from Blaise Matuidi and Yohan Cabaye, as Paris Saint-Germain won 4-0 at Bayer Leverkusen. The second legs of both games are on March 12, and wiping out a 2-0 deficit would seem to be beyond City at this stage. Especially if it struggles to break up Barcelonas flowing passing moves like at the Etihad. Somehow, though, the hosts emerged unscathed from their hesitant start and even produced the first meaningful shot of the match after 25 minutes when Alvaro Negredo curled the ball at Valdes. For all Barcelonas dominance, Hart had one meaningful save to make in the first half, pushing away Xavi Hernandezs long-range strike. "I thought we maybe gave a little too much respect to them in the beginning," City captain Vincent Kompany said. "They were there for the taking." But City couldnt and, after a quiet first half by his standards, Messis key contribution came after the break, scoring his 66th Champions League goal in the 54th minute, putting him just five from levelling Raul Gonzalezs record. Aside from Xavi firing over and Dani Alves skewing an effort wide, City looked more likely to find the net at times in the second half despite chasing shadows so often. Then a lightening move down the right flank was completed by Dani Alves putting the ball through Harts legs from a tight angle, giving Barca a comfortable lead as it chases a first European title since 2011. "They are incredibly efficient," Kompany said. "When you play against them you do realize the individual quality of this team is phenomenal and it makes it so difficult to close them down." Nike Air Max 90 Essential Sconti .A. Happs hold on a spot in the Blue Jays starting rotation is in question. Vapormax Scontate .A. remained bitter for Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers on the long flight back home to New York. http://www.airmaxscarpescontate.it/scarp...plus-saldi.html. He was attracted by the punishing defence, the strong running game and a coaching staff he trusted. The 49ers announced Thursday that Manningham had signed a two-year deal to join the team he helped knock out in the NFC championship game two months ago in their latest offensive upgrade at wide receiver. Air Max 720 Uomo . The Giants chances of winning the division were dealt a serious blow by the three-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Padres. The Giants open a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. San Francisco is still in good shape to clinch a wild-card berth, although it dropped into a tie with Pittsburgh in the race for the top spot. Nike Air Max 270 Italia . -- Creighton apparently has Villanovas number.TORONTO - In a play that sort of typified the evening and maybe even their season, Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry led a second-quarter fast break by delivering a one-handed bounce pass to Greivis Vasquez, who lateraled to the trailing Amir Johnson. Johnson, the beneficiary of a couple perfectly placed passes, capped off the sequence with a tomahawk slam that put Toronto on top by 20 points. Fouled on the landing, Johnsons momentum carried him into the first row, where he proudly pointed to the team name on his jersey and slapped hands with fans seated on the baseline. It was that kind of night. The proceedings began with the unveiling of a second Atlantic Division Championship banner and concluded with a well-deserved standing ovation just over two hours later. The Raptors - trotting off the court following a 110-100, wire-to-wire win over the Bucks - had set a new franchise record with their 48th victory of the season, while also going 15 games above the .500 mark for the first time in team history. "Its definitely great because we fed off our fans," said DeMar DeRozan, who stood centre court and counted down from three, as the banner was uncovered from the rafters atop Air Canada Centre, hanging adjacent to the one they had earned in 2006-07. The final home game of the season - Fanapolooza, as its been dubbed - had been a somber event for five years running. It was an opportunity for the Raptors loyal, albeit frustrated supporters to come bid farewell to a team that had let them down, a chance to vent their disappointment but mostly to guzzle up free t-shirts, pizza and whatever swag the remorseful organization was offering up. Most importantly, it meant the end of basketball in Toronto for another long summer. Not the case on Monday. Monday night was a celebration, a show of appreciation from a starved fan base to a team that has captured their admiration with resilience and hard play. It was a night of reflection, looking back at where they came from and rejoicing in what theyve accomplished. It wasnt a goodbye. Theyll see them again in five or six days. "Weve got to have some of the most devoted fans in the league," he continued. "Ive been here through the struggles and tough times and our fans were still right there with us on this journey. So it definitely felt good to share it with them because they played a major part in it as well." Although DeRozan was in uniform, available to play if it would have come to that, he was given the night off to rest going into his playoff debut next weekend. As it turns out, they didnt need him, not against the league-worst Bucks on Monday night. It was the 11th time theyve played without a member of their first unit - a group that has won more games than any starting five in franchise history - and the 11th time theyve come away victorious. With the Raptors all-star guard cheerleading from the sidelines, Greivis Vasquez started in his stead, pacing the team with 25 points and seven assists. "It was a fun win," said Vasquez, who knocked down his first six shots, five of them from beyond the arc. "They gave me a chance to start, I just went out there and did my job." Performances like his, like Tyler Hansbroughs double-double in 20 minutes, are a big part of whats gotten them to this point.dddddddddddd DeRozan has carried this team more often than not, so too has Lowry - who scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half - but when one or both have needed it, someone has generally been waiting and ready to back them up. "All it takes is the right chemistry, the right group of guys and you can do whatever it takes," DeRozan said. "You dont need no big name players, you dont need this, that and the third, what people supposedly say you need. Were proof of that and we continue to keep growing, keep learning and keep building. On to the next step." The next step, as the Raptors leading scorer puts it, is Wednesdays regular season finale in New York. With a win over the Knicks, Toronto would lock down the Eastern Conferences third seed and face whomever slots into sixth, most likely Washington. The Raptors would fall to fourth and play the fifth place team - likely Brooklyn - if they should lose on Wednesday and the Bulls defeat the Bobcats in Charlotte. "Im more worried about us, more so than who we play," said Casey. "Its about us, about our health, the rest, whatever we decide to do in that situation. If we play Brooklyn we play Brooklyn. If we play Washington we play Washington. There are no easy teams left in the playoffs right now. All of the teams are very capable. Brooklyn is probably more playoff-ready. But we cant control that. And Im not going into [Wednesdays] game trying to control that." The Raptors coach said he has not decided whether DeRozan - second in the NBA in minutes logged this year - will play in Wednesdays season finale. Home sweet home The Raptors will finish the season with 26 wins at home for the fourth time in franchise history. After dropping eight of their first 12 games at the ACC, they have become one of the toughest teams to beat on home court, winning 22 of 29 since the end of December. "Coach definitely stressed to us, weve got to protect home court," DeRozan said of the turnaround. "Thats big. We cant let teams come in here and think they can get wins. We really started taking it personally, understanding weve got to use our crowd to our advantage. Everybody bought in, so every time we were home we felt comfortable and felt that we could get any win." "I think our guys have gotten better, matured, improved, I think more than anything else," Dwane Casey said of their success at home. "You should have the same approach whether youre on the road, playing on the moon, wherever youre playing youve got to have the same approach and our guys have done a good job of that, whether were on the road or at home." They were undefeated, 19-0 in games they led going into the fourth quarter in Toronto, something that should serve them well as they go into the first round of the playoffs with home-court advantage. The stat With their fourth straight win over Milwaukee, the Raptors swept the season series with the Bucks for the first time in team existence. The quote "We had group at the start of the season that was motivated, dedicated to winning," said Lowry, "and when everything didnt pan out we made a move and we got a group of guys who came in that really filled the voids that we needed. Everyone is on the same page. ' ' '