Manchester City vs Barcelona: How Pep Guardiola can get one over his former club in Champions League
SunSport looks ahead to crucial game after Lionel Messi put nine-man Citizens to the sword in Spain
MANCHESTER CITY face Barcelona on Tuesday night knowing another defeat will leave them on the brink of a Champions League exit.
Pep Guardiola saw his tactical plans undone by a combination of Claudio Bravo's moment of madness and Lionel Messi's genius.
Here, SunSport's Martin Blackburn looks at how the Spaniard can get on over his former club.
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BARCA’S INJURIES
IF ever there was such a thing as a good night to play Barcelona... then this could well be it.
There is a huge gap down the spine of the team as the Catalan giants are without key defenders Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba through injury, while Jeremy Mathieu is suspended.
Barca boss Luis Enrique must also make-do without key midfielder Andres Iniesta — although replacing him might be easier than the defensive conundrum he must solve.
PEP'S DEFENCE
SATURDAY’S 4-0 Premier League win at West Brom was City’s first clean sheet in eight as Pep Guardiola has been tinkering since conceding four in the Nou Camp.
Can he afford to gamble on the fitness of skipper Vincent Kompany? And does he go for playing three at the back? Certainly the second of those options has not been a huge success so far.
Then there are problems at right-back, with Bacary Sagna unlikely to be fit after his hamstring injury.
City chief Pep has tried rookie Pablo Maffeo, 19, and even used midfielder Fernando as a makeshift full-back.
Just to confuse the issue further, Pablo Zabaleta faces a fitness test — but is confident of being ready.
SET PIECES
CITY have not had that much joy from corners and free-kicks into the box in recent seasons.
However, Guardiola will have noted the absence of Enrique’s two preferred centre-backs, Pique and Mathieu, and may hatch plans to do some damage.
The home side have good options from set-pieces — both Kevin De Bruyne and Aleksandar Kolarov will fancy their chances if they get a chance in range.
CITY STRIKEFORCE
THE best news for City fans at the weekend was Sergio Aguero’s return to scoring form, with the striker looking much more like his old self again. The Argentine star lost his way after a blistering start to the season.
But he tends to score in bursts and don’t be surprised to see him causing havoc with support from De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and David Silva.