Everything Barca
Fansided

FC Barcelona host Manchester City in a key match in the Champions League Group Stage

By Benjamin Barkworth

Lionel Messi of Barcelona shakes hands with Sergio Aguero of Manchester City before the Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg match between FC Barcelona and Manchester City at the Nou Camp in Barcelona, UK. Photo: Visionhaus/Gary Prior (Photo by Ben Radford/Corbis via Getty Images)
Lionel Messi of Barcelona shakes hands with Sergio Aguero of Manchester City before the Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg match between FC Barcelona and Manchester City at the Nou Camp in Barcelona, UK. Photo: Visionhaus/Gary Prior (Photo by Ben Radford/Corbis via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

A win for Barcelona will give them a strong lead at the top of the group.

Form

Going in to this match both teams are slightly off-form. After a long winning streak at the start of his tenure at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has now had three games without a win. Based on the last match against Everton, City are looking good though. It was only a draw thanks to two missed penalties along with some heroics in the Everton net from Maarten Stekelenburg. Similar to this, Barcelona are looking really good based on their last performance against Deportivo which they won 4-0. However, their last few matches includes a draw against Atlético Madrid, and a loss to Celta Vigo.

Squads

More from Analysis

The only major injury for Barcelona is Jasper Cillessen, but he was never likely to start over Marc-André Ter Stegen. Therefore there can be no excuses for Luis Enrique because he has all the potential options at his disposal. Manchester City have two injured players: Fabian Delph and Bacary Sagna. Neither of these players are majorly important though, so Pep also has a full team at his disposal. This suggests that it could be a great match because both teams have strong attacks, and neither defence is looking solid currently.

BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 15: Luis Enrique, of FC Barcelona during the Spanish League match between FC Barcelona vs RC Deportivo at Camp Nou Stadium, on October 15, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Cros Garcia/Corbis via Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 15: Luis Enrique, of FC Barcelona during the Spanish League match between FC Barcelona vs RC Deportivo at Camp Nou Stadium, on October 15, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Cros Garcia/Corbis via Getty Images) /

History

Recent history between the two is heavily favoured towards Barcelona’s side. These two teams met each other in the knockout stages for the 2013/14 and 2014/15 Champions Leagues. Barcelona won each of the four games in them two years, but never by more than a two goal margin. Aside from that, there is no other competitive matches between the two, so the Citizens are yet to even get a result of the Catalans in their history.

It’s also important to remember Pep’s history against Barça since he left their managerial position in 2012 after his incredibly successful tenure. The only time he has come up against his previous employers prior to this is the 2014/15 Champions League semi-finals when he was manager of Bayern Munich. Those were two classic matches which Barcelona won 5-3 on aggregate with them eventually going on to win the treble that season after beating Juventus in the final. However, they were close matches, and if Lionel Messi hadn’t scored two wonderful goals in the first leg it could have been a lot different. Therefore it wouldn’t be a surprise if this match is a close-run affair due to Pep’s managerial skill making up for the gap in quality between the teams.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 15: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City gives his team instructions during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Everton at Etihad Stadium on October 15, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 15: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City gives his team instructions during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Everton at Etihad Stadium on October 15, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /

Playing Style

In terms of playing style, Manchester City under Pep are very similar to Barça. This is because of the revolution that Pep implemented in his time at Barca which they still continue with to this day, but there is more of an emphasis on getting the ball to the front three as quickly as possible than when they played under Guardiola where Xavi was the focus. This season the Citizens have dominated matches with their organised possession play which has allowed them to pick apart opponents. Just as important is their intense pressing off the ball which severely limits the play of the opposition. However, they also have the ability to do quick direct counter-attacks thanks to players such as Kevin De Bruyne.

The beginning of the match will be a struggle over who has control in the middle which Barcelona should win. There will be intense pressure on the ball, so there will be limited possession. However, Barcelona thrive under those conditions due to players such as Messi and Andrés Iniesta being experts at intricate football. From then on, it will be more of what we are used to in Barça’s games with the Catalans having the majority of possession, and Manchester City trying to break on the counter-attack through key players such as Sergio Agüero, David Silva and the aforementioned Kevin De Bruyne. The major question is how much City will press the ball. If Pep is feeling risky then they may press the ball deep into the Barça half. However, it’s more likely that they will only start pressing in their own half.

Potential Lineup

Prediction: FC Barcelona 3-1 Manchester City