Barcelona vs Manchester City – Prediction
Manchester City to win 3-2 with odds 13/1 or 7. Barca starts as the clear favourites and their isn’t an inch of doubt in that but even the best of teams can have an occasional off day. It was not too long along that they were beaten by Malaga at the Nou Camp 1-0. Barcelona will also be missing the services Sergio Busquets who is a pivotal part of the Barca defense.
Manchester City reminds me of a wounded Lion and we know how dangerous they can be. They have talent in their team to go toe to toe with Barca but it’s question whether they can do it on the day.
If City are to pull this off they will need the duo of Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure to step up and we expect them to do exactly that. Manchester City to win it 3-2 but it’s a gamble and this one is for the adventurous bettors out there.
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Barcelona
Luis Suarez put in a great performance in the first leg versus City scoring twice in Barca’s 2-1 win (Standard)
Barcelona comes into this match on the back of a 2-0 win against Eibar on Sunday thanks to brace from Lionel Messi. The Catalan giants have a 2-1 led over Premier League champions Manchester City heading into 2nd leg clash at the Nou Camp.
2-1 may indicate a close game but that was far from what happened at the Etihad Stadium three weeks back. Barca dominated City and should have won by a bigger margin and they would’ve had Joe Hart had not save Lionel Messi’s spot kick.
Since their last meeting with City they have won all their four cup and league matches during that time and it’s safe to say they start as the overwhelming favourites.
The two teams met in the same stage of the competition last season and Barca ran out as comfortable winners winning the two legs 2-1 and 2-0 respectively.
The main man for Barca will undoubtedly be Lionel Messi who has scored an impressive 43 goals for them in all competitions this season.
Luis Enrique has almost a fully fit squad to choose from apart from midfielder Sergio Busquets who is out with an ankle injury. Thomas Vermaelen is the other absentee among the Barcelona ranks.
Manchester City
Yaya Toure is available for Manchester City against Barcelona and will need a big performance from his part if they are to do the impossible.
The defending Premier League champions come into this match on the back of a 1-0 defeat against Premier league strugglers Burnley on Saturday.
Since their defeat against Barcelona in the 1st leg they have lost two and won one of their three Premier League games during that time.
Their hopes of back-to-back Premier League titles have all but ended but they still have a chance at European glory this season however they would need to score atleast two goals at Nou Camp if they are to keep those European dreams alive.
They went down 2-1 in the first leg but in all honesty the score line is a bit flattering for the miserable performance they showcased on the evening.
City has had a man send-off in each on their last three meeting with Manchester City with Gail Clichy being the one that was send-off last time.
Yaya Toure is back for City after he had missed Manchester City’s last three Champions League games serving suspension for being send-off in their group stage clash against CSKA Moscow.
Pressure is mounting on Manuel Pellegrini after his team’s recent run of bad results. Rumour has it that if Pellegrini doesn’t turn around City’s season soon then he might be shown the door at the end of the season after all it’s what happened to Roberto Mancini.
Past Meeting
During their 1st leg clash at Etihad Stadium, Barcelona were clearly the better outfit racing to a two goal lead in the 1st half with a brace from Luis Suarez.
Sergio Aguero gave city a glimmer of hope as he pulled one back for themin the 69th minute. Messi had a chance to increase Barca’s lead in the second half injury but had his penalty saved by Joe Hart. The other note worthy incident in the game was the sending of Gail Clichy in the 74th minute.
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