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Tuesday, 24 February 2015

UCL: MANCHESTER CITY vs FC BARCELONA (1- 2), full time


                         

Luis Suarez looks set to play his first match in England since leaving Liverpool to join Barcelona in the summer, in Tuesday's Champions League last-16 first leg at Manchester City.

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has an almost full squad to select from, with only defenders Douglas and Thomas Vermaelen missing.

City striker Wilfried Bony could make his first start for the hosts.

Yaya Toure is suspended but James Milner is fit after a knee injury.
MATCH PREVIEW



Barcelona are looking to reach an eighth-straight Champions League quarter-final as they bid for a repeat of last season's last-16 win over Manchester City.

Manuel Pellegrini's men lost both legs at the same stage last time round to be defeated 4-1 on aggregate and are yet to progress to the last eight of the competition.

"It is one of the games of the year, the most important until now," said Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique.

"They will try to attack us and that suits us. It has been proven over the past few months that we are better against teams that attack us because we can counter-attack."

Before Saturday's 1-0 loss to Malaga, Barcelona had won 11 consecutive games in all competitions.

The Spanish team eased into the knockout stage with a match to spare, while City squeezed through thanks to a late turnaround against Bayern Munich in their penultimate group game and then a 2-0 victory in a must-win match at Roma.

The Premier League champions failed to advance from their Champions League groups in 2011-12 and 2012-13, but have progressed to this stage for two campaigns in a row.

"This is a new game and we're not the same as we were last season and they aren't, either," Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero told the club website.

"Both teams have had reinforcements that have improved the squad so we'll have to see what kind of game it is, but one thing I think I can say with confidence is that they are both going to be great games."

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