Barcelona v Man City: UEFA Champions League preview, line-ups & predictions
The Wednesday’s Champions League Group C match of the day awaits one of the high profile encounters when F.C Barcelona play hosts to Manchester City. Pep Guardiola and Claudio Bravo return to their former club. This will be the second time Pep Guardiola will be visiting Camp Nou, with the previous during the 2014/15 Champions League Semi-Final with Bayern Munich. Guardiola won the Champions League as both a player and coach with Barcelona. Yaya Toure is another former Barcelona man, but the Ivorian has been an outcast since Guardiola took over.
Pep Guardiola’s Man City side lie 2 points and a place behind the Catalans following their 3-3 draw with Celtic last time out.
Man City drew for the third successive match on the weekend in a 1-1 draw with Everton. Both Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero had penalties saved in the match.
Barcelona on the other hand cruised to a 4-0 victory on the weekend, with Rafinha bagging a brace, a goal from Suarez and one from Messi just few minutes after coming off the bench for Luis Enrique’s side.
Team news
Barcelona have made a perfect start to their Champions League campaign by winning the first two matches. They started with a 7-0 thrashing of Celtic at home, but were made to sweat hard by the Bundesliga side Monchengladbach in the 2-1 win at Borussia Park. The Blaugrana were a goal down at half-time, until Arda Turan and Gerard Pique scored two quick goals in the second half to bag full points.
Barcelona’s front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar returned to the pitch together on the weekend, with Lionel Messi coming off the bench.
The trio are all expected to start on Wednesday.
While Manchester City couldn’t back-up their comprehensive 4-0 win on matchday 1 against Gladbach, when they visited Glasgow for the second fixture. The Scots showed their neighbours that they are no pushovers and held the Premier League giants to a 3-3 draw. However, this was always going to be a tough trip against a Celtic side who are unbeaten in all competitions at home.
Sergio Aguero started Saturday’s match from the bench but is sure to start at the Nou Camp. Guardiola fielded a back 3 in a 3-4-3 formation against Everton but is likely to revert to a back 4 for the trip to Spain. Right-back Bacary Sagna missed out on Saturday through injury, meaning Pablo Zabaleta could start at full-back.
Following his goal at the weekend, Nolito could earn a start but Sterling and De Bruyne are likely to be preferred.
Prediction
Barcelona have a strong home record in Champions League and were not beaten in the last 17 matches at Camp Nou since 2013. And 16 of them are wins with the last 12 wins coming in a row. They do not drop any points at this stage of the tournament, even when coming against teams of highest quality.
Manchester City have a good enough squad, but they are yet to get familiar with Pep’s philosophy. They are currently on a three match win-less run in all competitions. After the draw against Celtic, they lost to Tottenham and were held by Everton to a draw. Under the circumstances, it is hard to see them trouble Barcelona at their own backyard.
It promises to be an exciting fixture no matter the outcome.
Predicted line-ups
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Alba, Pique, Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Neymar, Suarez, Messi
Man City: Bravo, Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bryune, Silva, Sterling, Aguero
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