Manchester City vs Barcelona UEFA Women's Champions League preview: team news, predicted line-ups, previous meeting, ones to watch and how to watch

Barcelona come into this UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final with a 3-0 advantage over Manchester City (goals from Asisat Oshoala, Mariona Caldentey and Jennifer Hermoso).

The Catalans go to Manchester to consolidate their classification to the semi-final, while the Citizens have the obstacle of reversing that triumph. The winner will face Lyon or Paris Saint Germain in the semifinals.

Team News

Manchester City are going into this match from a tough weekend against Reading, where they won 1-0 with a goal from Chloe Kelly in the 87th minute. The Citizens are runners-up in the Women's Super League with two points behind the leader Chelsea.

Gareth Taylor pointed out after the first leg that his team threatened the defence of Barcelona and noticed the irregularity of some plays, but recognized the Catalan dominance in the match:

“Going down 2-0 and missing the penalty and chances, it is one to look at next week. I am confident we can do it but we have made it tough for ourselves, no doubt about that."

Barcelona have 21 wins in Primera Iberdrola - 100% success - scoring 103 goals and just conceding three in the process. The difference between the Catalans and Levante in second is nine points.

Kheira Hamraoui is out of the list due to an achilles tendon injury in her right leg and Hermoso has discomfort in the left leg quad. On the other hand, Laia Codina and Caroline Graham Hansen are available for the match.

Predicted Line-Ups

Manchester City: Roebuck; Bronze, Dahlkemper, Greenwood, Morgan; Mewis, Walsh, Weir; Hemp, Kelly, White.

Barcelona: Paños; Torrejón, Pereira, León, Guahabi; Bonmatí, Guijarro, Putellas; Martens, Cladentey, Oshoala.

Previous meeting

Barcelona beat Manchester City 3-0 at the U-Power Stadium in Monza, Italy, and dominated throughout the match. The Catalans knew they would have to structure themselves to control the English side's quick game and were successful in their achievement.

Ellie Roebuck was primordial in holding on to the clean sheet, but in the 35th minute, Oshoala opened the scoring for Barcelona with a perfectly placed shot Roebuck could do nothing about. At the start of the second half, Caldentey scored from a penalty. Soon afterwards, City had the opportunity to reduce the advantage, however, Sandra Paños denied Chloe Kelly from the penalty spot. At the end of the match, Hermoso scored her fifth goal of the competition from the bench and sealed a three goal advantage.

Ones to Watch

Despite losing a penalty in the first leg, Chloe Kelly is the main highlight of the Citizens: she has seven goals and ten assists in the season. Her main skills are dribbling, ball handling and progressive passing. Another player to watch out for is Sam Mewis, one of the competition's artillery candidates with four goals.

At Barcelona, Lieke Martens is one of the major stars. In addition to being a very important piece in the Netherlands, she stands out in the teams she plays; it is no wonder she was the UEFA Player of the Year in 2017. Despite having been on the bench in the first leg, she might be a starter tomorrow due to Graham Hansen recovering from injury. Martens has three goals in the competition.