Form guide (all competitions)
Barcelona: LWWWWW
Manchester City: WWLLWL
Manchester City again face a daunting trip to Barcelona as they seek to turn round their Uefa Champions League round of 16 tie.
For the second year running City were beaten in the home first leg by Barça, this time going down 2-1 in Manchester on 24 February.
The match also provides a Camp Nou return for two Barcelona old boys in Yaya Touré, who swapped Catalonia for Manchester in 2010, and Txiki Begiristain, now City's director of football.
• 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, both losses coming against English opposition (Chelsea FC 2004/05, Liverpool FC 2006/07).
Previous Meetings
The clubs met for the first time in a competitive fixture last season. Barcelona won the first leg in Manchester 2-0, with Lionel Messi (pen) and Daniel Alves scoring. Messi and Alves struck again in a 2-1 second-leg win, either side of Vincent Kompany's goal. In both games City had a player sent off – first Martín Demichelis, then Pablo Zabaleta.
he line-ups in Barcelona on 12 March 2014 were:
Barcelona: Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Fàbregas (Sergi Roberto 86), Neymar (Alexis Sánchez 80), Messi, Iniesta.
Man. City: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, Touré, Fernandinho, Nasri (Navas 75), Silva (Negredo 72), Milner, Agüero (Džeko 46).
Touré played against a City side including Pablo Zabaleta when they won 1-0 at Barcelona in a pre-season friendly in August 2009.
Barcelona had visited City on 10 August 2003 for the English side'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.
Match Background
Barcelona
Four-time European champions Barcelona are seeking a record eighth successive quarterfinal appearance.
Barcelona won all three home games in Group F, including a 3-1 success against Paris Saint-Germain on matchday six. They have lost just one of their last 30 Uefa Champions League home matches, winning 23.
Barcelona's record at home to English clubs is W16 D11 L2.
Barcelona lost the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup final 2-1 to Manchester United FC but defeated Arsenal FC in the 2006 Uefa Champions League final and United in the 2009 and 2011 finals.
Barcelona have progressed 33 out of the 35 times they won the away first leg in Uefa competition, most recently against City last season. Those two failures came against 1. FC Köln in the 1980/81 Uefa Cup first round (1-0 away, 0-4 home), and FC Metz in the 1984/85 European Cup Winners' Cup first round (4-2 away, 1-4 home).
Barcelona's shoot-out record in Uefa competition is W5 L1:
5-4 v KKS Lech Poznan, 1988/89 European Cup Winners' Cup second round
0-2 v FC Steaua Bucuresti, 1985/86 European Cup final
5-4 v IFK Göteborg, 1985/86 European Cup semifinal
4-1 v RSC Anderlecht, 1978/79 European Cup Winners' Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town FC, 1977/78 Uefa Cup third round
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 Uefa Cup second round
Man. 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 bounced back with wins over FC Bayern München and AS Roma to snatch second place.
City's victory in Rome on matchday six was their fourth in their last seven away games in the competition since the beginning of last season.
The English champions' record in Spain is W1 D1 L4. Their only victory was a 3-0 success at Villarreal CF in the 2011/12 group stage in which Touré scored twice.
While City are seeking to reach the quarterfinals for the first time, in Manuel Pellegrini they have a coach who has previously been there with Villarreal (2006, 2009) and Málaga CF (2012).
Aside from their 2013/14 defeat by Barcelona and this season's tie, City have lost only one other home first leg in Uefa competition, against FC Midtjylland in the 2008/09 Uefa Cup second qualifying round; they triumphed by the same scoreline in Denmark and went through 4-2 on penalties.
City's shoot-out record is W2 L0:
4-2 v FC Midtjylland, 2008/09 Uefa Cup second qualifying round
4-3 v Aalborg BK, 2008/09 Uefa Cup round of 16
Match Facts
Barcelona
Barcelona have won 16 of their last 17 games, the exception a 1-0 home defeat by Málaga CF on 21 February.
The Catalan giants kept their first clean sheet in six outings on Saturday as Messi struck twice in a 2-0 victory at SD Eibar.
Luis Suárez has scored six goals in his last five matches in all competitions.
Messi struck his 32nd hat-trick for Barcelona in the 6-1 victory against Rayo Vallecano de Madrid on 8 March, breaking Telmo Zarra's record of hat-tricks in Spanish football. It was his 24th treble in the Liga, nudging him back ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, and he has now passed 40 goals for the sixth consecutive season.
With Real Madrid CF losing at Athletic Club, the Rayo Vallecano win took Barcelona to the top of the Liga for the first time since 1 November 2014.
The Catalan club completed a 6-2 aggregate victory against Villarreal CF on 4 March, a 3-1 win setting up a Copa del Rey final date against Athletic Club on 30 May. The pair are the competition's most successful teams.
Sergio Busquets has been sidelined with an ankle injury suffered at Villarreal on 4 March; Thomas Vermaelen is out for the season following hamstring surgery.
Manchester City
Clichy is suspended following his sending-off in the first leg but Yaya Touré is available after a three-match ban. Agüero, Edin Džeko and Zabaleta are all a booking away from suspension.
Of the teams in the last 16, City have received more red cards (3) than any other.
City suffered their third defeat in four outings on Saturday, losing 1-0 away to nearby Burnley FC.
City have lost as many games as they have won in all competitions in 2015: five, drawing the other three.
Agüero scored 19 goals in 21 games in all competitions before a month-long absence with a knee injury. Since his 10 January return, he has registered just four in 11 outings.
Džeko struck his 50th Premier League goal in a City shirt during the 2-1 loss at Liverpool FC on 1 March. It was the Bosnian's fourth league goal of the campaign.
The Citizens' 4-1 win at Stoke City FC on 11 February was their first victory in six matches in all competitions.
January signing Wilfried Bony started every match – scoring two goals, both in the quarterfinals 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 United FC on 21 February.
Touré was also ever-present for Ivory Coast, his one goal coming in the semifinals against DR Congo. The Stoke game was the only match City won during his absence.
Luis Enrique, Barcelona coach
There's only one match on our minds and that's the one against City. Not the Clásico. It would be dangerous to play a cagey match. Our objective is to win and play better than our opponents. A place in the next round is at stake. You play the whole season for these games and that's why the press room is full today.
I don't think last season's game is anything to go by because both sides have changed players. You can't qualify just by playing one of the two games very well. We need to play well [in the second leg] too and see if we can beat City again.
I don't think City look physically tired at all. I am sure they will fight to qualify for the next round – I'm positive of that. We don't take anything for granted and this match is very important.
Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City manager
We need to play like we did in the second half of the first leg. For part of the first half Barça controlled the game but in the second half we had chances. We need to play 11 v 11 and then we have a team that can play like we did in the second half.
It's important to fight Barcelona for the ball but they dominate possession against all opponents. We have to keep the ball once we gain control of it. We want to give Barcelona problems regaining the ball once we have it.
It is important for us to prove that we are one of the best teams in Europe by beating Barcelona and that must be our test. We must strive to win.
We are not facing an easy team but if it's 11 v 11 the game could be different [to the first leg]. When you against Barcelona it's almost impossible to do well when it's 11 v 10 [as it has been for the teams' last three meetings] – I am not pointing at the referee because it was a fair decision.
Coach And Player Links
During nine seasons coaching Villarreal, Real Madrid and Málaga in Spain, 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 was P22 W4 D4 L14.
City's director of football, Begiristain, filled the same role at Barcelona between 2003 and 2010. He was previously a member of the Blaugrana's 1992 European Cup-winning squad and also won four Liga titles, the European Cup Winners' Cup and Uefa Super Cup.
During three seasons with Barcelona (2007–10), Touré made 74 Liga appearances and scored four goals, winning two league titles and the 2009 Uefa Champions League.
Zabaleta spent three years at Barcelona's city rivals RCD Espanyol (2005–08) and appeared in four Liga derbies (W0 D2 L2).
Frank Lampard was in the Chelsea FC side that drew 2-2 at Barcelona in the 2011/12 Uefa Champions League semifinals to book their place in the final. Lampard scored three goals in ten appearances against Barcelona with Chelsea, beating them in the 2004/05 round of 16, but losing out in the 2005/06 round of 16 and 2008/09 semifinals.
Agüero hit five goals in ten Liga outings against Barcelona for Club Atlético de Madrid between 2006 and 2011.
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 loss to Chile. Bravo's Chile subsequently lost on penalties to a Brazil side 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 eliminated England from the 2014 World Cup. With Liverpool FC, Suárez scored once in six appearances against City (W2 D3 L1).
Javier Mascherano was unbeaten in seven games against City with Liverpool (W2 D5 L0) but did lose his one match against them with West Ham United FC (0-2 a) in 2006.
Ivan Rakitic was in the FC Schalke 04 side beaten 2-0 at home by a City team including Hart and Kompany in the 2008/09 Uefa Cup group stage.
Gaël Clichy was an unused substitute for Arsenal in the 2006 Uefa Champions League final defeat by Barcelona. Clichy and Samir Nasri played in the Arsenal teams eliminated by Barcelona in 2009/10 and 2010/11.
Navas played alongside Alves and Adriano in the Sevilla FC side that beat Barcelona 3-0 in the 2006 Uefa Super Cup.
Gerard Piqué spent four years in Manchester as a United player from 2004–08, making 23 appearances but never facing City.
Possible Line-ups
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba; Xavi, Rakitic, Iniesta; Suárez, Messi, Neymar.
Out: Vermaelen (hamstring), Busquets (ankle)
Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov; Fernando, Fernandinho; Milner, Touré, Silva; Agüero.
Out: Clichy (suspended)
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét