Nou Camp preview
Barcelona vs City, Pep Guardiola returns back to the Nou Camp for a big clash for City on Wednesday night. Dropping points against Celtic wasn't in the plans and Pep had said we need two wins to qualify and he wants them as soon as possible. We have two matches consecutively against Barcelona, I'm hoping we can sneak a win, the home match at the Etihad being the important one. I expect nothing at the Nou Camp, but I do want a good performance, give Barcelona a game. Barcelona will dominate the game, I expect City will see some of the ball but won't dominate the game. Pep Guardiola loves possession, but if City want to do well, we need to sit deep, press well and press at the right times. Barcelona pray for space, if they can shut out Messi and Neymar from the wings and stop them cutting in, they stand a chance. The wing backs are crucial to this game. Vidal won't play, so I read yesterday on Sky Sports that Luis Enrique will play four at the back, rather than the three they played last match, but Vidal is casting shadows, so it seems. Much like Yaya Toure at City. Alba is crucial to this game, he's quick and can find space. City might be preoccupied with Neymar and Messi, that it will allow more space for their wing backs. Zabaleta will play, he has a huge task of shutting down that wing. I hope Kompany will play on the right channel of centre defence and organise the defence and cover Zabaleta. If Kompany is fit to play, play him. Otamendi will partner whoever in defence. He has a big task of shutting out the middle, Suarez will keep him busy and needs to be careful of Messi and Neymar overlapping in the middle. Fernandinho will play, he needs to drop more centrally in defence. Fernando could play, if he does, he needs to sit back too. Gundogan could play too, if he does, he needs to track back, defend and read the game well. He could be crucial to controlling the game. Silva, De Bruyne are too good not to start and I expect Silva will act more centrally (he needs to track back and defend too, defend in numbers and attack in numbers) and De Bruyne may act wider than normal, but he can cut in too. Aguero too, he plays up front but needs to find space and out wide, on counter attacks may well be his best choice. The big question is who occupies the other wing? Nolito is my bet, he tracks back, passes the ball beautifully and cuts inside well. The only problem with Nolito is that he's played his trade in Spain and is in the national team for Spain, so Barcelona will know all about him and how to handle him. Sterling is a little bit harder to deal with. He's quick, plays down the middle or wide down both sides and key to playing counter attacks. If Sterling plays, I expect that City will play counter attack. Fernando could start then too, with a two man defensive midfield. If Guardiola hopes to dominate the ball, like he is used to, Gundogan will be key to that, Nolito too. So we will see City's intent just from the line-up. The only big question is Kompany. Is he fit to start? Is he fit to play 90 mins? Probably not, but unless he takes a knock between now and tomorrow night, I'd start him and use Stones from the bench if needed. If City want anything from this game, they need to be tight, track back quickly, press early and hard, time their challenges well, cut out mistakes, limit space from Barcelona's midfield to attack and snuff out the front three. Task impossible for me. City haven't been great defending this season. This needs to change tomorrow night or they will lose. They could lose by a heavy score too, if they play like they did against Spurs. My score predicition is 3-1 Barcelona... Yeah, I'm not hopeful but these games are where boys become men. It's time to step up. As Claudio Bravo said, "pressure is all on Barcelona to win this game."
Team prediction - Bravo, Zabaleta, Kompany, Otamendi, Kolorov, Fernando, Fernandinho, Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero.
