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| In contrast, City boss Pep Guardiola shows his frustration at seeing his side concede on 17 minutes |
Ultimately, though, Guardiola's decisions cost City.
Sergio Aguero was not selected. Guardiola explained he wanted strength in his midfield but City still needed a centre forward, still needed their best player. As a result of his exclusion, his team lacked the expertise when their chances arrived. Was Guardiola guilty of being too clever for his own good here? Perhaps.
And what now of the former Barcelona manager's decision to jettison Joe Hart in August?
Claudio Bravo, a goalkeeper selected for his expertise with his feet, did what he has done consistently since arriving in Manchester. He made a mistake with his feet. In presenting the ball to Luis Suarez in the 53rd minute, Bravo was forced to save the resulting shot and was sent off for handling outside the penalty area.
It was a horror moment and it sunk City. Already a goal down to Messi's early strike, City were well in the game at that moment but within eight minutes of Bravo's exit Messi scored again. Another eight minutes later, he made it three.
A contest had become a walkover in quarter of an hour and Guardiola's return to his home had become an exercise in self-destruction.
Guardiola had said he would ask his team to match Barcelona for possession. It was ambitious but for a short while it worked.
Early in the game, the right-hand side looked as though it might be productive for City. On a couple of occasions, Raheem Sterling ran into just enough space to deliver a cross, while a move down the other flank in the ninth minute saw David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne combine to find Nolito in the penalty area. Briefly, the Spaniard had a little space but he couldn't use it to engineer a shot at goal.
Messi had endured a poor start but nobody was surprised to see him spring to life to nudge Barcelona in front. He began the move down the right, inviting a couple of reckless challenges, yet there seemed little danger as he scuttled into the box to seek a return pass from Andres Iniesta. But when the ball bounced loose from Pablo Zabaleta's challenge, Fernandinho slipped over on the slick turf, Nicolas Otamendi was caught on his heels and Messi picked up possession, rounded Bravo and scored.
Suarez struck the side netting in the 21st minute after Messi confused Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan before Bravo dashed recklessly from goal to deny a breaking Neymar by a matter of inches.
This continued be an odd night and the most oddest was yet to come. Samuel Umtiti headed a corner wide when unmarked in the 51st minute before Bravo's aberration a couple of minutes later. It was a horror moment for the former Barcelona goalkeeper. Still, the contribution of Suarez is worth noting. In chasing down what seemed a lost cause, he prevented Bravo taking a touch to control the ball. This, in turn, led to the dreadful error and the red card that essentially ended as a contest.
Barcelona didn't score from the free-kick but were two ahead just after the hour. De Bruyne was hustled off the ball in his own half, the ball was fed forwards to Messi and the No 10 turned inside Aleksandar Kolarov to score from the edge of the area with his left foot.
Their third was another gift. Gundogan, hitherto impressive, sent Suarez clear with a misplaced pass in the 68th minute and the Uruguayan squared for Messi to roll his hat-trick goal into an empty net.
Neymar took an awful penalty, allowing Willy Caballero to save, after Messi drew a scything foul from Kolarov in the 86th minute. But there was still time for the Brazilian to embarrass Otamendi and Stones on route to scoring the fourth a couple of minutes later.
MATCH FACTS
Barcelona: ter Stegen, Mascherano, Pique, Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta, Luis Suarez, Messi, Neymar.
Subs: Masip, Turan, Rafinha, Alcacer, Digne, Andre Gomes, Mathieu.
Man City: Bravo, Zabaleta, Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov, Gundogan, Fernandinho, Silva, Sterling, De Bruyne, Nolito.
Subs: Caballero, Fernando, Aguero, Jesus Navas, Sane, Clichy, Maffeo.
Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)
