On November 1st, football fans are in for an exciting evening as the 4th round of UEFA Champions League group stage matches will feature eight matches from groups A-D.
"Manchester City" - "Barcelona" Tournament: UEFA Champions League (4th round) Stadium: "Etihad" (Manchester) Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary) Date and time: 2016-11-01, 21:45
At the "Etihad" stadium, an intriguing match between "Manchester City" and "Barcelona" will take place. Of course, we cannot avoid the intrigue, especially if Pep Guardiola's team once again play hopelessly. However, the "Cityzens" burn with desire and will want to redeem themselves in front of their fans.
Sporting Form
"Man City" had a few painful setbacks after losing 0-4 to "Barca" in England. Meanwhile, Luis Enrique's team did not face such difficulties on their national front - they achieved all possible victories.
Pep Guardiola's squad finally ended their losing streak over the weekend by defeating "West Brom" 4-0. Two players stood out among the winners - Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan, who both scored a brace.
Prior to that, "Man City" drew 1-1 with "Southampton" in the Premier League and lost to "Manchester United" in the English League Cup last week. However, in this match Guardiola did not field his strongest lineup, resulting in a 0-1 defeat.
Meanwhile, "Barcelona" had a challenging period after the impressive match against "Man City" in La Liga. They secured a last-minute victory against "Valencia" in the league and narrowly defeated "Granada" in their last matches.
Team News
Before the match against the Catalans, "Man City" is facing serious absences. They will be missing goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who received a red card in their first match against "Barcelona" and will have to miss today's match. Additionally, two right-back defenders - Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta - will not be available for the English team.
Even more serious absences affect "Barcelona", who arrived in Manchester without Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta, Jeremy Mathieu, and Aleix Vidal. There were also doubts regarding Sergio Busquets' chances of appearing on the field, but the Spaniard is training with the team and preparing for the match.
Predicted "Man City" lineup: Willy Caballero; Fernando, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi, Aleksandr Kolarov; Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan; David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling; Sergio Aguero.
Predicted "Barcelona" lineup: Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Javier Mascherano, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne; Sergio Busquets, Rafinha, Ivan Rakitic; Neymar, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi.
Interesting Facts
"Man City" started the season with a ten-game winning streak, but after a successful phase, they experienced six winless matches - the worst result in Pep Guardiola's coaching career. Over the weekend, the "Cityzens" ended their streak by defeating "West Brom".
During their six-game winless streak, "Man City" always conceded the first goal.
Sergio Aguero managed to score 11 goals in the first six matches of the season but struggled to score in the following eight matches in a row, both in "Man City" and the Argentine national team.
Rafinha is currently among the most dangerous players for "Barcelona" - in the last six matches, the Brazilian scored five goals.
"Barcelona" won all three trips to England. Two of them were victories against the Manchester team, and the other was against London's "Arsenal".
Under Luis Enrique's leadership, the team has scored at least one goal in 20 consecutive UEFA Champions League away matches.
Prediction
Everyone expects "Man City" to be eager to retaliate against Barcelona for the painful defeat, but whether the opportunity will allow it - the match will show. Both teams have serious absences in their defensive line, so expecting a "dry" match should not be necessary.
Manchester players want to strike back at Barcelona, but "Barca" has a fairly successful history in English stadiums. Prediction - a 2:2 draw.
Guess how the Champions League match between "Man City" and "Barcelona" will end! The betting company "CBet" considers Barcelona as the favorites, what about you?
Aivaras Katutis
