How Manchester City Will Line Up Against Barcelona in Champions League Play

What a different tone this preview would have if Manchester City had not finally cracked Jose Mourinho's code in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea did nothing to pull back the six Premier League points the Londoners took from City this season. It did not draw City any closer to catching Chelsea or Arsenal in the Premier League.

It guaranteed City nothing by way of silver, as three more hurdles must be cleared before the FA Cup is won.

Still, can you imagine how the headlines would have read in the tabloids if City boss Manuel Pellegrini had his lunch stolen by Mourinho again?

A third loss to Chelsea would have left City winless in February and reeling. What hope would anyone have had for City against mighty Barcelona in Champions League play?

Just one win really can make all the difference.

This is not to suggest that City are now going to steamroll Barcelona or even win the match narrowly. Oddschecker.com has Barcelona as a very slight favorite to win at the Etihad (6/4 as against 19/10 for City).

But the relief and belief the Citizens came away with were neatly encapsulated in Alvaro Negredo's Twitter remarks after the win over Chelsea:


Which leads us nicely into the new big question for Pellegrini which XI will he pick to take on Barcelona?

Pellegrini is very likely to be without star striker Sergio Aguero and invaluable midfielder Fernandinho for this match.

Per David McDonnell of the Mirror, Pellegrini "will give Fernandinho until after training today to prove his fitness, while admitting Aguero has only an outside chance of being fit for the first leg of the last 16 tie."

Aside from the availability of those two, Pellegrini must answer the following questions for himself and his team:

Is Samir Nasri now fit enough to run for 90 minutes? If not, should Nasri start anyway?
Will Pellegrini break up the budding partnership of Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic to start Alvaro Negredo?
Has Pellegrini finally fallen out of love with Martin Demichelis, or will the Argentine slot right back in next to Vincent Kompany?

If you take Pellegrini at his word, Aguero will not even make the team sheet. “It’s my opinion that for Aguero it’s very difficult for him to play,” said Pellegrini to McDonnell. Sending Fernandinho out at less than full health against a dangerous side like Barcelona would be a very bad idea.

The projected City XI below suggests what the answers to those other questions above might be.

City's predicted XI against Barcelona: Joe Hart; Gael Clichy, Vincent Kompany, Martin Demichelis, Pablo Zabaleta; Samir Nasri, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas; Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic.

Source: Bleacherreport
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Is Tata Martino the Right Man for Barcelona Long Term?

Tata Martino has only been in the Barcelona hot-seat for barely six-and-a-half months but has already polarized opinions amongst supporters.

That the Barca faithful are already passing negative judgments after such a short tenure is in itself a little concerning.

As of this moment, Martino's debut season record holds up well, compared to that of his most recent contemporaries.

In their first 22 La Liga games, both Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova won 19 games, drew two and lost one, to give them a points total of 59.

Tata's 54 points from 17 wins, three draws and two losses is not anywhere close to the disaster that some would have you believe.

Cules want to see more "tiki-taka" and less pragmatism from Tata Martino.
The Argentine is struggling to curry favour amongst the rank and file because of a steadfast refusal to play "tiki-taka" when he believes that there is a more practical way of getting results.

The sharpness and urgency of the Guardiola years has inevitably waned, and the fickle everyday Barca fan has therefore seen fit to direct their ire toward the manager.

It's fair to suggest that the baying masses had already sharpened their knives whilst Vilanova was in-situ.

There were murmurings of discontent during that 2012/13 season concerning Tito's lack of trust in the youngsters in his squad.

For those used to seeing regular promotions from Barca B—there were 22 during Pep's four years—Vilanova's insistence on playing his most senior players as often as possible was probably a chief reason for Barca's mental and physical tiredness at the business end.

Cristian Tello is one of just a handful of La Masia graduates to make the first team in the last two seasons.
The humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich might well have been limited had a clear rotation policy been in place throughout, and Vilanova's most unfortunate illness diluted and deflected much of the criticism that would surely have come his way otherwise.

Aside from unforeseen injuries, the current squad remains fresh.

Martino has done the opposite to his predecessor insofar as everyone in the squad, including the previously untouchable Lionel Messi, has been rotated diligently and used intelligently.

If we want to be picky, there is perhaps a reasonable argument as to why Marc Bartra has been under-utilised.

Yet before the Champions League game in Amsterdam against Ajax, and the Athletic Bilbao game just a few days after, the manager was being lauded and applauded for his acumen.

Marc Bartra could perhaps have been used more in the centre of defence.
The manner of those two defeats did little for his ongoing credibility and candidacy for a longer term appointment in the eyes of many.

A perceived lack of urgency and "sparkle" unmasked Tata's fiercest critics.

The vitriol spouted in his direction has even seen the Argentine confide to close friends that he will leave his post at the end of the season (per Football Espana), however successful it may be.

And successful to this point it has been.

How can the loss of just three games in all competitions this season and still being alive in all of them be considered anything other than a success?

The doom-mongers will have you believe otherwise of course. La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League are well beyond Barca they'll say, but the stats say otherwise.

The best goal difference in all of the top five leagues in Europe, over 100 goals for the ninth season in succession, highest amount of successfully completed passes in the top five leagues (per whoscored.com). We could go on...

A couple of lacklustre performances aside, there seems little to reproach Martino for.

In a day and age where managers are hired and fired on a whim, he deserves to be given the reins on a longer term basis.

Whether he or the club allow his contract to run for the two full seasons that he originally signed up to (per FCBarcelona.com), we can only speculate on at this stage.

But supporters with very short memories should be careful what they wish for...

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