HART RISES TO CITY CHALLENGE ONCE AGAIN

Manchester City are trying to sign a new goalkeeper this summer because of the things that Joe Hart does not offer. The reasoning makes perfect sense:
Pep Guardiola's game plan demands a very specific type of goalkeeper - one who is exceptional with his feet - and, currently, Hart is not an ideal fit.

But it would be foolhardy to overlook what the England No.1 does offer. On Tuesday night, he produced yet another Champions League masterclass. Once again he was called upon as City's last line of defence and once again he proved to be as reliable as the best around.

If his save to deny Casemiro was important but reasonably routine, his trademark starfish block to keep out Pepe from a matter of inches was simply
incredible. As City prepare for next week's return clash, Hart's contribution could proven be the difference between success and failure. It has so often been the case.

Hart's improvement over recent years - since he was dropped for six weeks in Manuel Pellegrini's first season in charge - has been significant. He responded to that challenge, when Costel Pantilimon was given a run between the sticks, by eradicating the silly errors in his game and becoming one of the top goalkeepers in Europe.

And it is on the European stage when he has shone brightest. He had already shown what he was capable of before Pellegrini arrived, and rarely more so than against Borussia Dortmund in 2012. City escaped with a 1-1 draw, thanks to a late Mario Balotelli penalty, but they would have been dead and buried by that point were it not for Hart. He made fine save after fine save to keep out the team that would go on to reach the final that same season. His
performance was so good, Wayne Rooney was compelled to log into Twitter and label him the best goalkeeper in the world.

That may have came in a season when City failed to win a single group game, but Hart was showing his pedigree. As the Blues have progressed deeper and
deeper into the tournament in recent years, his performances have reached new heights.

A fine save in Rome in December 2014, which kept the score level and allowed City to secure a 2-0 win and secure a passage to the knock-out stage, was
vital. Ironically, given it laid the foundations for victory, it has been overshadowed by his heroics in defeat.

Against Barcelona over two legs, Hart stood out even as City lost both. He saved a penalty to deny Lionel Messi at the death in Manchester, before
emulating his Dortmund heroics in the return at Camp Nou. City were eliminated, losing 1-0 on the night, but he denied Messi on as many occasions as he did Mario Gotze three years earlier.

"He was phenomenal, he stopped everything," said Messi. Andres Iniesta added: "Hart was key to keeping them in it and was great in one-on-one
situations. He was outstanding.” Luis Enrique liked what he saw, too: "The score could have been a rout but Hart was incredible."

That penalty save in the first leg is the first in a run of three consecutive spot-kicks he has saved in the Champions League. Back in September, as City were
being overrun by Borussia Monchengladbach, he denied Raffael from the spot. Had it not been for Hart on that night, City would have lost their first two
matches of the campaign and surely not made it out of the group stage.

And in the knock-outs he has proven his worth once more. Another penalty save, this time topenalty Zlatan Ibrahimovic, kept his run going and kept Paris
Saint-Germain at bay in the quarters, the club's first ever appearance at that stage. He palmed away two of the big Swede's stinging free-kicks in the second leg, too, helping the Blues go one better and qualify for the semis.

Once again, as City reflect on their efforts against Madrid, they would be staring down the barrel were it not for Hart. Pellegrini's side have put in some of their best performances of the season in Europe, and it is not as if they have been bailed out by their keeper with the same frequency as David De Gea at Manchester United, for example.

But Hart has certainly played his part in City's run to the semis, and on Tuesday night he did perhaps more than anybody to ensure they go even further.

For so long, Hart was at the top of his game even as City floundered in Europe. Now they are mixing it with the big boys, he has only got better. City may well sign a goalkeeper this summer - Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen is firmly in the frame - but the new boy will have a fight on his hands to make the No.1
spot his own. Hart, as he has demonstrated once again again, will rise to the challenge.