STAR PREVIEW: Man City v Barcelona

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]arcelona brushed Man City aside 4-0 in the reverse fixture and thankfully, from City’s perspective, we haven’t yet reached the knockout phase.

It’s all about progression at this stage and the Monchengladbach v Celtic game could have more Group C significance for City than what they do themselves in front of their home supporters.

The potent strike force of Messi, Suárez and Neymar is confirmed for Barcelona despite this being a match they don’t need to win. Barcelona are not having a great season by their own exceptional standards and looked only perfunctory in their win over Granada at the weekend to move into second, behind Real Madrid, in the La Liga table.

Man City manager Pep Guardiola is acutely aware of the challenge ahead. He said: “We have to be focused for 90 minutes, knowing they are going to provoke mistakes because of the quality they have.

“But we had a few chances [in the first game] and have to keep going in that sense and try to finish better than we did in Barcelona.

“We will try. I have never entered a match thinking we can’t win but we have to play almost perfectly.”

Man City v Barcelona
UEFA Champions League Group Stage
19:45 BT Sport 2 / BT Sport 2 HD / BT Sport 4K UHD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches)
Oct 2016 EUROPEAN CUP Barcelona 4-0 Man City
Mar 2015 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Barcelona 1-0 Man City
Feb 2015 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Man City 1-2 Barcelona
Mar 2014 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Barcelona 2-1 Man City
Feb 2014 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Man City 0-2 Barcelona

STARTING XI

Man City

13 Caballero
5 Zabaleta
30 Otamendi
24 Stones
11 Kolarov
25 Fernandinho
7 Sterling
17 De Bruyne
8 Gündogan
21 Silva
10 Agüero

Barcelona

1 ter Stegen
20 Sergi
14 Mascherano
23 Umtiti
19 Digne
4 Rakitic
5 Busquets
21 André Gomes
10 Messi
9 Suárez
11 Neymar

It’s a tough call for punters given the dynamics of the competition but a must-watch encounter and I’m hopeful of a return from the DRAW at 5/2 with Star Sports with the market struggling to split both sides.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)

BACK DRAW 5 points at 5/2 with Star Sports

PROFIT/LOSS SINCE EUROS: +102.23 points

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BET NOW WITH STAR SPORTS 08000 521 321

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)

BACK DRAW 5 points at 5/2 with Star Sports

PROFIT/LOSS SINCE EUROS: +97.23 points

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BET NOW WITH STAR SPORTS 08000 521 321