Manchester City again face a daunting trip to FC Barcelona as they seek to turn round their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
For the second year running, City were beaten in the home first leg by Barça, this time going down 2-1 in Manchester back on February 24th. This time, they will be hoping to achieve a miracle in overcoming that defict and provide an amazing victory away at the Camp Nou to see them qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in the club's history.
The last time Barcelona played City in the Camp Nou was in the same situation last year where they won in Manchester 2-0 and then winning at home 2-1.This is only City's second appearance in the round of 16, but for Barcelona it is the 11th in a row.
For The Citizens, French full-back Gael Clichy will miss this match due to suspension following his sending off in the first leg. However, Ivorian midfielder Yaya Touré will be back in the side from suspension after missing the first leg and is hopeful that he can provide some sort of creativity in the midfield to achieve that result that they need as well as Sergio Aguero to provide goals on their behalf.
Barcelona on the other hand have this match in their mindset as well as a possible league defining match as they host Real Madrid in El Clasico on Sunday. In team news, manager Luis Enrique has confirmed that Sergio Busquets will not be avaliable due to injury meaning that Xavi will look to replace him in the starting lineup tomorrow. These 2 matches in a span of 5 days can really define the season itself for the Catalan club with the possible chance of winning a treble as they look to capture the Copa Del Rey as well.
Quotes:
“I expect a similar game to the first leg. Last year they also came here after a negative result from the first leg and they caused us a lot of problems. “They are missing Clichy, but have a key player back in Touré. They’ll play with two forwards and depending on their approach, we’ll work out how we can cause them damage”. - Barcelona manager Luis Enrique
“They have players, especially in attack, who can change a game at any time. We can’t make the mistake of thinking that winning 2-1 in the first leg was enough. We need to control the game, get the ball rolling and make them run. Every tiny detail matters in the Champions League, and the only thing we’re worried about right now is beating City.'' - Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta
''Mentally we must be very focused. If you look at the game Real Madrid played against Schalke and the same with Chelsea and PSG, it shows anything can happen in football.'' - City defender Pablo Zabaleta