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Barcelona are at home and take a valuable 2-nil lead into tonight’s second leg, but they should be wary of a Manchester City outfit back to full strength. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6.45am AEDT.
City have to overturn a 2-nil deficit away from home if they hope to progress past the round of 16 in the Champions League.
City, however, are coming off a surprise 2-1 defeat to Wigan in the FA Cup and will need to improve considerably if they hope to trouble Barcelona.
At least City find themselves back at full strength, thanks to the return of key striker Sergio Aguero.
Aguero featured in the loss to Wigan and also in Argentina’s friendly against Romania.
The Argentine should be back to full fitness after a month off with a hamstring injury and is the key player that could turn this tie on its head.
Barcelona will be well aware of Aguero’s class and will be thinking twice of pressing City.
With Samir Nasri, David Silva, Aguero and Jesus Navas all in pretty good form, City possess the attacking players to really hurt Barcelona.
With this in mind, expect Barcelona defenders Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba and Dani Alves to really remain on their toes in a bid to thwart City’s firepower.
City’s primary concern of course will be stopping Lionel Messi from dictating terms – as he usually does at the Nou Camp.
The Argentine superstar is coming off below-par performances against Romania in a friendly and in the surprise 1-0 La Liga defeat to Valladolid last week and will be keen to get back to his best form on the big stage against City.
Messi often plays his best football at the Nou Camp and his class, along with the performances of Andres Iniesta and Xavi, could prove the key in securing Barcelona’s passage to the quarter-finals.
Prediction: Barcelona to win 3-2