Barcelona made a huge statement in its bid to regain the Champions League trophy this season when they overpowered Manchester City 2-1 Tuesday in the first leg of their round of 16 tie. Luis Suarez delivered his finest performance in a Barcelona uniform yet, scoring a double to help the Spanish giants inch closer to their record eighth consecutive quarterfinal appearance.
Can Barcelona seal the deal at the Nou Camp this coming March 18th? Or will Manchester City pull off the mother of all surprises and stun the four-time champs in their own backyard? Read on below for a preview of this much-anticipated second leg clash and while you’re at it you can check out our preview of another Champions League round of 16 second leg between PSG and Chelsea here.
[sc:Soccer ]UEFA Champions League Manchester City vs. Barcelona Predictions and Betting Preview
Where: Nou Camp, Barcelona
When: Wednesday, March 18, 2:45 PM ET
Line: Manchester City at Barcelona – view all UEFA Champions League lines
What’s At Stake
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Even though Barcelona holds a 2-1 advantage at the halfway point of this tie, Man City are not out of it yet. To advance in the knockout round for the first time in their Champions League participation history, they will need to win the second leg and score at least two goals. Anything less than that and Barcelona books its place in the last eight.
Even a 1-0 win for City will not be enough because of the away goals rule. If the game ends 2-1 in City’s favor, the match will extend into extra time and, if necessary, penalty kicks.
Betting on Manchester City
New year, same result.
It was the same story all over again for Manchester City as their Champions League hopes were once again dashed by a Barcelona side that came to play in the first leg of their round of 16 tie Tuesday. Just like last season, the Citizens had no answer for Barcelona’s vaunted attack as they surrendered two costly away goals to the four-time European champions.
It could have been much worse for Manchester City if not for some wasteful finishing by the Spanish giants. Lionel Messi could have put the tie to bed with a penalty right at the death but his effort was superbly saved by Joe Hart. The Argentine star then went on to miss the rebound as his follow-up header went horribly wide.
Partly to blame for City’s horrific performance was the way they lined up in the first half. Manager Manuel Pellegrini elected to go with a 4-4-2 formation with James Milner and Fernando acting as the central midfielders. That move terribly backfired, though, as Barcelona picked apart the City midfield with ease as the Catalans enjoyed the lion’s share of possession that resulted into them gaining a quick advantage.
Manchester City came out with more purpose, though, in the second half and clearly deserved Sergio Aguero’s goal in the 69th minute. That gives them a slight glimmer of hope that they can shock Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
For them to grab that gigantic upset, they will need to take control of the midfield battle. Barcelona enjoyed 62 percent of the possession in the first leg and that is simply not good enough for Manchester City especially at home. Fortunately for them, Yaya Toure should be available in the return leg and that will provide a much-needed boost to the City midfield.
Aside from acting as a shield to the defense, Toure plays a pivotal role for Manchester City in the sense that he can quickly turn defense into offense. He provides another scoring option for City as well as he is the team’s joint second-leading scorer this season with nine goals. With City in desperate need for goals at the Nou Camp, his presence will be a huge plus.
Even with the odds stacked against them, Manchester City will fancy their chances of grabbing a shock win because of the excellent play of their star striker Sergio Aguero. The 26-year-old has regained his goal-scoring form, finding the back of the net four times in City’s last three games.
He has already scored a team-high 23 goals this season and Manchester City will be looking for Aguero to add to his goal-scoring tally in the second leg and fire the English champions into the last eight of the Champions League for the first time ever.
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Betting on Barcelona
Luis Suarez might be worth all that money after all.
Barcelona’s 80-million-pound signing finally delivered in the big stage as he scored twice in Barcelona’s 2-1 away win over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League tie. It leaves the Catalan giants in perfect shape heading into their return encounter at the Nou Camp in three weeks’ time.
They will have to thank Suarez for their advantage as he was simply exceptional in his first game back on English soil since leaving Liverpool this past summer. Suarez opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a delightful finish from Lionel Messi’s cross and then made it 2-0 less than 20 minutes later as he, Neymar, and Messi combined for a beautiful goal.
Suarez’s had scored just once before in six previous meetings with Manchester City, all with Liverpool. He has also struggled in his first season thus far with Barcelona, scoring just seven goals in 22 appearances prior to Tuesday’s game.
His job Tuesday was made easy, though, thanks to the excellent play of strike partners Messi and Neymar. The dynamic duo has already scored a combined 43 goals for Barcelona this season and their pace and movement against the City backline was simply too much for the English champions to handle. That created the space for Suarez to wreak havoc inside the box.
Barcelona will fancy its chances of advancing into the next round as they are unstoppable at the Nou Camp in the Champions League as of late. They are unbeaten in their last eight European games there, winning seven times and drawing just once. In fact, one of those wins was against Manchester City last season where they scored a 2-1 victory in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie.
Writer’s Prediction
Barcelona books its place in the quarterfinals with a comfortable 2-0 win.
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