For the second year running,
Manchester City and Barcelona meet
in the last 16 of the Uefa Champions
League – with the English side
hoping for a different outcome than
12 months ago when Barcelona won
4-1 on aggregate.
The clubs have common ground
beyond last season's encounter.
City's squad features Spaniards
Jesús Navas and David Silva along
with six other players signed from
Spanish football including Yaya
Touré, recruited from Barcelona in
2010. Additionally, they have a
director of football, Txiki Begiristain,
who knows Barcelona better than
most.
This is only City's second appearance
in the round of 16, but for Barcelona it
is the 11th in a row. Their record at
this stage over the past decade is
eight wins and two defeats. The
Azulgrana have qualified for the
quarter-finals in each of the last
seven seasons.
The teams met for the first time in a
competitive fixture last term.
Barcelona won the first leg in
Manchester 2-0, Lionel Messi
(penalty) and Daniel Alves scoring.
Messi and Alves struck again in a
2-1 second-leg victory, sandwiching
Vincent Kompany's goal. City had a
man sent off in both games: first
Martín Demichelis, then Pablo
Zabaleta.
The lineups in Manchester on 18
February 2014 were:
Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta,
Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Touré,
Fernandinho, Navas (Nasri 58), Silva,
Kolarov (Lescott 58), Negredo (Džeko
74).
Barcelona: Valdés, Alves, Piqué,
Mascherano, Alba, Xavi, Busquets,
Fàbregas (Sergi Roberto 86), Alexis
Sánchez (Neymar 74), Messi, Iniesta.
Barcelona were the visitors on 10
August 2003 for City's inaugural
match in a stadium built for the 2002
Commonwealth Games. Nicolas
Anelka and Trevor Sinclair scored
either side of Javier Saviola for
Barcelona, who featured Xavi
Hernández in their starting XI and
Andrés Iniesta as a substitute.
Touré played against a City team
including Pablo Zabaleta when they
won 1-0 at Barcelona in a pre-
season friendly in August 2009.
Match background
Manchester City
City reached the last 16 on the back
of an impressive escape act in Group
E. They had taken only two points
from their first four fixtures but then
beat Bayern Munich and AS Roma to
snatch second place.
Their last-gasp 3-2 comeback
victory over Bayern on matchday five
was just their third win in their last
ten European home fixtures.
City's home record against Spanish
clubs is W2 D2 L1 . Sergio Agüero has
scored in his last two home games
for City against Liga visitors – the
1-1 draw with Real Madrid (2012/13)
and 2-1 success over Villarreal
(2011/12).
While City are seeking to make the
quarter-finals for the first time, in
Manuel Pellegrini they have a coach
who has been there with Villarreal
(2006, 2009) and Málaga CF (2012).
Barcelona
Four-time European champions
Barcelona are pursuing an eighth
successive quarter-final appearance.
Barcelona lost their first away match
in this campaign at Paris Saint-
Germain (2-3) but subsequently won
at AFC Ajax (2-0) and APOEL FC
(4-0).
The Blaugrana's victory at City last
year was their first in five trips to
Manchester – the first four were at
Old Trafford against Manchester
United FC. It was also their first
success on English soil since a 3-1
Champions League final triumph over
United at Wembley in May 2011.
Barcelona's record away to English
opposition is W7 D8 L14 .
Coach and player links
During nine seasons coaching in
Spain with Villarreal, Real Madrid and
Málaga, Pellegrini managed only four
victories against Barcelona. The
Chilean lost both Liga 'clásicos' as
Madrid coach in 2009/10 (0-1 a, 0-2
h) and his overall record against
Barcelona reads P22 W4 D4 L14 .
City's director of football, Begiristain,
filled the same role at Barcelona
between 2003 and 2010. He was a
member of the Blaugrana's 1992
European Cup-winning squad and
also landed four Liga titles, the
European Cup Winners' Cup and
Super Cup.
During three campaigns with
Barcelona (2007–10), Touré made 74
Liga outings and scored four goals,
winning two league championships
and the 2009 UEFA Champions
League.
Zabaleta spent three years at
Barcelona's city rivals Espanyol
(2005–08) and featured in four Liga
derbies (W0 D2 L2) .
Agüero hit five goals in ten Liga
games versus Barcelona for Club
Atlético de Madrid (2006–11). His
first home match against Barcelona
ended in a 6-0 defeat in May 2007.
Frank Lampard claimed three goals
in ten appearances against Barcelona
as a Chelsea player, beating them in
the 2011/12 semi-finals and 2004/05
round of 16, but losing in the 2008/09
semi-finals and 2005/06 round of 16.
David Silva faced Claudio Bravo when
his Spain side – also including Jordi
Alba, Sergio Busquets and Iniesta –
had their 2014 Fifa World Cup
elimination sealed by a 2-0 reverse
to Chile. Bravo's Chile subsequently
went out on penalties to a Brazil
team containing City's Fernandinho
as well as Neymar and Alves.
Luis Suárez struck both Uruguay
goals past Joe Hart in the 2-1 victory
that ousted England from the 2014
World Cup. With Liverpool FC, Suárez
scored once in six games against City
(W2 D3 L1) .
Gaël Clichy was an unused Arsenal
substitute in the 2006 Champions
League final defeat by Barcelona.
Clichy and Samir Nasri later played in
Arsenal sides eliminated by
Barcelona in 2009/10 and 2010/11.
Navas lined up alongside Alves and
Adriano in the Sevilla team that
overcame Barcelona 3-0 in the 2006
Super Cup.
Gerard Piqué spent four years in
Manchester as a United player from
2004–08, making 23 appearances
but never facing City.
Match Facts
Manchester City Agüero, Clichy, Edin
Džeko and Zabaleta are all a booking
away from a ban. Touré completes a
three-match suspension.
City have played 13 games since the
end of the group stage, their record
reading: W7 D4 L2 .
The Citizens' 4-1 win at Stoke City
FC on 11 February was their first
victory in six matches in all
competitions.
Agüero registered twice against
Stoke, ending a six-game scoring
drought. He also converted a second-
minute penalty in Saturday's 5-0 win
against Newcastle United.
Saturday's clean sheet was City's
first in 11 fixtures in all competitions,
since a 3-0 triumph over Crystal
Palace on 20 December.
January signing Wilfried Bony started
every match – scoring two goals,
both in the quarter-finals against
Algeria – as Ivory Coast won the 2015
Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial
Guinea. He made his City debut as a
second-half substitute against
Newcastle.
Touré was also ever-present for Ivory
Coast, his one goal coming in the
semi-finals against DR Congo. The
Stoke game was the only match City
won during his absence.
Squad changes
In: Wilfried Bony (Swansea City)
Out: Stevan Jovetic, Matija Nastasic
(FC Schalke 04, loan)
Barcelona
Barcelona have won 13 of their 16
games in all competitions since
matchday six, drawing one and
losing two, including Saturday's 1-0
loss at home to Málaga CF. That was
Barcelona's second Camp Nou
reverse of the season, equalling the
mark for each of the last two
seasons; they have not lost three
times at home since 2008/09.
Before the weekend the Blaugrana
had won their last 11 fixtures, since
losing 1-0 to Real Sociedad de Fútbol
on 4 January.
The Catalan club defeated Huesca
(12-1 on aggregate), Elche (9-0) and
Atlético Madrid (4-2) en route to the
Copa del Rey semi-finals, where they
lead Villarreal CF 3-1 after the home
first leg. The return is on 4 March.
Messi registered his 23rd Liga hat-
trick, equalling Cristiano Ronaldo's
record, as Barcelona beat Levante UD
5-0 at home on 15 February on the
occasion of his 300th top-flight
appearance for the club.
The Argentina striker has scored 14
goals – including another hat-trick,
against Deportivo La Coruna on 18
January – in 2015.
Thomas Vermaelen is out for the rest
of the season, while Douglas is a
doubt for the first leg because of a
torn thigh muscle sustained in mid-
January.
Squad changes
In: None
Out: None
Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City
manager
Last year was different. Last year we
arrived here after 19 games in two
months and I don't think it was our
best period. This year I hope we do it.
My team are in good form, but we
recognise that we are playing a very
strong side.
Last year we tried to change our
style, maybe we couldn't do what we
wanted to do, so we tried to contain
Barcelona and couldn't play our
attacking game. This time we will
play our game. The main thing for my
team is to fight for possession. We
need to have the ball as long as we
can, have good distribution, force
Barcelona near to their box and
concentrate on them and their good
players.
Lionel Messi is the best player in the
world. We can't think about just
stopping Messi. If we just stop him
then they have a lot of other good
players. It's very important for us to
fight for possession, not to lose easy
balls. When they have the ball we
must be very focused on Messi and
their other players.
[Sergio] Agüero is one of the top five
players in the world and when he is
100percent fit he is very difficult to
stop. He's coming back from an
injury, but he's adding minutes and
seeing him in his last two games
against Stoke and Newcastle, he's
back to his best.
Before the game at the weekend
Barcelona had won 11 in a row, so
you can't criticise them. Maybe if we
played them in December they were
in a difficult period, but tomorrow we
will see the real Barcelona. Maybe
against Málaga they were thinking of
tomorrow, but before that they were
playing very well.
Luis Enrique, Barcelona coach
We didn't relax against Málaga, we
were well prepared. We wouldn't
have gone into a league game
thinking about a Champions League
match. We just couldn't get through
their defence. These things happen in
football. But now we are in a different
competition.
After a defeat you want to get the
chance to compete again, especially
against a team that are among the
favourites for the competition. We
shouldn't be down after the run we've
been on. We need to carry on doing
what we have been doing.
We've got to make use of the space. If
we can get hold of the ball then we
can put our plan into action. The
battle for the midfield will be pivotal.
Last year Barcelona were in control of
the game in terms of possession and
2-0 was a big advantage coming
home. It will be difficult this time.
I don't know if there is a bigger gap
than last year. City have won their
domestic title and have improved
their squad since then, as have we.
We hope to win the trophy and if you
want that, then you have to go
through games like this.
Possible line-ups
Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta,
Mangala, Kompany, Clichy;
Fernandinho, Fernando; Nasri, Silva,
Milner; Aguero.
Out: Touré (suspended)
Barcelona: Bravo; Alba, Mascherano,
Piqué, Alves; Iniesta, Busquets,
Rakitic; Neymar, Messi, Suárez.
Out: Douglas (hamstring), Vermaelen
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