Just a few years ago, no one would have envisaged the Man City-Barca match-up being the most talked about in all of Europe, let alone billed the tie of the TOURNAMENT so far. It has taken a lot of money and quite some sacrifice for the Manchester club to reach this high level and they intend to remain there for a while yet. Tonight, they can further stake a claim to the European super power status If they defeat the Almighty Catalan army.
Barcelona enter this crucial game on the back of a dominant display v Rayo at the weekend . SIX well taken, unreplied goals against Paco Jemez's side Ensured They returned to the pinnacle of the Spanish League The returning Neymar capping a brilliant night for the 4 - time Champions League winners with a fine goal. Tonight, it is Manchester City who are both the Opponents and the Hosts as They September about trying to negotiate a way to the Quarter Finals of this great Competition. TATA The army are almost full strength with the return of super star Neymar to the fold after a few weeks in October injured. It is a good dilemma for the Argentine's he manager is in short longer of options in attack. Barca will be wary of the attacking force City has managed more than 100 goals in all competitions this season and have not failed to find the net in the previous nine Champions League home games. Something else will come to mind for the 22 team League Champions. Guardiola and Bayern were humbled by City in front of German fans at the Allianz Arena. The same Bayern Them who crushed on the way to the title last season and the same manager who made Them impregnable.
Manuel Pellegrini overcame the biggest challenge faced by the mega rich City in the last three years. QUALIFY FOR THE KNOCK-OUT STAGES of the Champions League and he did it in some style. In fact, he was one goal away from topping the group and would certainly have avoided Barcelona but he foolishly opined that he was unaware of the permutations that would have seen his team qualify out of the group as outright winners. Be that as it may, the Chilean prepared for this game by delivering sweet revenge on Chelsea in the FA Cup. The game that saw the return of Samir Nasri. Today, he would want nothing other than a victory and a healthy margin that will enable him confidently take his team to the intimidating Nou Camp next month.
Tata and Manuel are two of the best coaches out of South America. Although, Manuel has enjoyed some success in Europe, this is Tata's first sojourn in this continent and he is making the most of it. The Blaugrana are in another Cup Final which is going to be the 3rd CLASICO of the season and are top of the pile in Spain. Pellegrini has 0 titles on European soil but he is almost certain to claim at least one this season with his team in the final of the League Cup, the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup and a win away from retaining their position as the top team in the EPL. In South America where they both belong, they are highly revered and command a lot of respect because of their accomplishments at clubs they have managed in the past. Astute tactical minds, they will relish the chance of getting one over each other and this fixture is the best opportunity to take it. Newell's Old Boys Legend, Tata Martino was chosen to replace the ailing Tito Vilanova at the start of the season, while Mr Pellegrini had to come in, when the managerial seat at the Etihad became vacant following Mancini's dismissal at the tail end of last season
PROBABLE lineups-
MANCHESTER CITY-
Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov, Yaya, Fernandinho, Garcia, Silva, Nasri, NEGREDO
BARCELONA-
VV, Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba, Busquets, Xavu, Iniesta, Cesc, Messi, Alexis
Definitely, City will miss Kun Aguero. The Argie Has Scored 26 goals over all competitions this term and is about the second best striker in Europe at the moment behind only the peerless Luis Suarez. Pique and Masche can breathe a sigh of relief that he is unavailable for tonight's clash because he is a big problem to handle. In his absence, the burden of scoring the important goals will rest firmly on the shoulders of Alvaro Negredo. The Spanish beast loves scoring at home and will look to carry on the good form in this encounter. The recovery of Fernandinho will shore up the midfield for City. The Brazilian, who recently got called up by Big Phil, is one of the buys of the summer and should be very helpful to the City cause.
Catalan warlords, Barcelona have one of the best teams in History in Their ranks and will look to use his abilities to the optimum in order to see off the challenge City. Leo Messi is the name and breaking records is his modus operandi. The 4-time Ballon D'or winner destroyed two major records on Saturday night, outscoring the likes of Telmo Zarra, Alfredo Di Stefano and Raul Gonzalez Blanco int the all time La Liga scoring charts. A feat we all thought could never be achieved, let alone surpassed. Messi is now officially the highest goal scorer ever for a single Spanish club (337 goals)-Zarra scored 335 for Bilbao back in the day. Di Stefano and Raul's Liga scoring stats were shattered for the 26 year old soccer god and the 252 set by the aforementioned Zarra is already within reach. The small demon is already on 228. Aided by Iniesta, Fabregas, Alexis, Neymar, Pedrito and others, the champions of Europe three times in the last eight seasons will want nothing less than a victory on English soil. Something they have failed to achieve in five previous knockout rounds (08-09-10-11-12).
Tonight's match pitches the two sharpest attacks in World football against each other. Although Kun is unavoidably absent from the party, it will still make for a fabulous and mouthwatering occasion to savor.
Ohireime P Eboreime
@ Ohiskaka1990
