Although looking superior for much of the first leg three weeks ago, the fact is Barcelona hold a one goal lead over Manchester City. The Catalans dominated for long spells, missed a hatful of chances (including a last minute penalty), but they failed to close out the game and conceded a goal when looking in complete control. How crucial those lapses in concentration and, perhaps more importantly, Lionel Messi’s failure to convert from the spot proves to be, remains to be seen. Luis Enrique will hope that his players learn something from the game in Manchester and turn in a professional and disciplined performance to reach the quarter finals. It is no exaggeration to say that there was a huge gulf between the two clubs but there’s no doubt Barca never played at the same intensity for parts of the second half.
Although they have reached the knockout stage for the second consecutive season, many City supporters will be disappointed if their challenge once again fails in the last 16 at the hands of Barcelona. They rode their luck to reach this stage after taking only two points from their first four games, but they have failed to build on the momentum picked up with wins over Bayern Munich and Roma. They looked naïve and short of quality for the majority of the first leg and have failed to learn lessons from previous games against the top clubs in European football. As they are currently trailing Chelsea by six points in the Premier League (having played a game more) the pressure is being heaped on Manuel Pellegrini as he attempts to make history and reach the last eight of the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Following Saturday’s 2-0 win away to Eibar, it is now 16 wins in their last 17 in all competitions for Barca. That run of form has put them into the final of the Copa Del Rey, one point clear at the top of La Liga and in pole position to qualify for the next stage of this competition. They won all three games at home in the group stage without really excelling in games against Apoel, Ajax and PSG, and since they lost heavily to Bayern In the semi finals of the Champions League in 2013, they are unbeaten in 10 at the Nou Camp, winning all but one of them.
City come into this game in much worse shape compared to their opponents. Defeat to Burnley on Saturday evening was their third loss in five games played in Europe and the Premier League. Even when they have been winning games it has been much less impressive than the performances they showed in their title win last season which has created a lot of talk around the relationship Pellegrini has with the squad. The fact they have kept only two clean sheets in their last 13 game is another huge worry as they head to a face a team who have scored more goals than any other team in the top five European leagues.
These clubs have played each other three times in 12 months with Barcelona winning all of them. They looked better in every area in the first leg but City do have quality in their team and can be dangerous if allowed to play. Luis Enrique will be drilling into his players the importance of playing at the intensity they showed for the first half last week and if they can do that then it should be a fairly comfortable even. Take Barca to lead at half time and full time against what looks like a dejected City side.
Barcelona HT/FT double result 21/20 @ Betfair
