Barcelona - ManC, Champions League Round 16

i don think pelegrini will play defensive at home. His players showed they can win it all at home, confidence is quite high. Going defensive would completely be a suicide. He needs to play the return leg in Camp Nou and he knows what it means to play there in CL. I cant remember the last time any English team won a return leg in Camp Nou......So home game is all he will be looking for. win or draw whatever the result is i can only smell a high scoring entertaining game

no matter how great your defensive ability is at home to go all out attack against us, with their midfield and Messi would be suicide for them..

their strong point is countering so I expect to play a easier version of Madrid 2011/12 team..
I don't care if we lose so long as we score more then 1 away goal and keep the margin by 1 maximum 2 as I think we can win easily at home.

Am I the only one shivering in my boots when I see City play? The form their players are now especially Negredo and Aguero. I just hope they don't do to us what Bayern did last season.

If City play both Negredo and Aguero I will be happier, not scared.

They are nowhere near Bayern, we already seen that this season.

It will be a tough, competitive tie which will take our all...but this squad has already seen worse.

Well true enough the one positive thing is City will play open football and keep attacking giving our players more room to operate, instead of parking the bus.

The Franchise wrote:If City play both Negredo and Aguero I will be happier, not scared.

They are nowhere near Bayern, we already seen that this season.

It will be a tough, competitive tie which will take our all...but this squad has already seen worse.

They beat Bayern away, didn't they?

they played an extra midfielder then. I expect Pelle to do the same against you so its going to be either Kun or Negredo maybe both towards the end of the game

free_cat wrote:

The Franchise wrote:If City play both Negredo and Aguero I will be happier, not scared.

They are nowhere near Bayern, we already seen that this season.

It will be a tough, competitive tie which will take our all...but this squad has already seen worse.

They beat Bayern away, didn't they?

What Hala said, they didnt play with both strikers.

Also it was a strange game, Bayern dominated again and was up 2-0 and coasting. Then I think thought it was over because how easily they beat City the first time and again found themselves multiple goals up after just over 10 minutes.

Then obviously once City found their game and got momentum it was hard to stop them.

Man City 4 - 6 Barcelona FT #fcblive [@ALKASSIntlCup, Under 16]

Lee [1 goal, 2 assists, 1 penalty won].

City scored 3 of their goals in the last 10 minutes when Busquets was subbed off! After that sub, City controlled the game!

Does anyone else feel we're going to see this lineup in big CL games?


Like the last Clasico (but this time with a fitter Messi marauding down the wings)? Because I have a hard time imagining Tata is going to leave Cesc out of most big games and Xaviesta are nailed on starters.

Hope not.

Hope it was just a on off game because Madrid have had years of practice at trying to stop Messi in between the lines and the variation caught them off guard.

Hope it isnt repeated, especially not if its just to get Cesc in the team. Not the way Pedro and Alexis have been playing.

18 days left

Aguero out for 1 month.

Aguero and Nasri won't play the 1st leg against Barcelona at Al-Ittihad stadium.


So what would their lineup be?

Negredo Dzeko
Silva Yaya Fernandinho Navas
Kolarov Demichelis Kompany Zabaleta
Hart

or will they play with 5 midfielders?

If they smart, 5 midfielders

Zab - Demi - Kompany - Clichy

Navas - Fernadinho - Yaya - Kolarov
         
-----------------Silva
- -------------- Negredo

Yes, They shouldn't do the same mistake SAF did in UCL final vs Barcelona!

Although its a good news that Aguero won't play the 1st leg, yet I wanted us to beat them with their best players on the pitch!

I got a bad feeling about this

Khaled wrote:Yes, They shouldn't do the same mistake SAF did in UCL final vs Barcelona!

Although its a good news that Aguero won't play the 1st leg, yet I wanted us to beat them with their best players on the pitch!

Comparing Pelle's 4-2-2-2 to SAF's 442 is ill advised also i don't agree playing 5 in midfield would be a good idea for them.

It would be playing right into your hands and make them nowhere near as much of a threat.

Dropping Dzeko for Kolarov/Milner would be the equivalent of waving the flag.

They need to stick to their strengths and i'm sure they will.

I would love to play against a 442 featuring Negeredo and Dzeko. Which of them is going to stop Busquets for playing?

Are they really going to leave him free?

They can press Busquets. Why not? Even Mario Gomez pressed Busquets last season. If Costa and Villa can play against us upfront (a game in which Busquets got harrassed like I've never seen before btw.) so can Negredo and Dzeko. It's all about Pellegrini's instructions and tactical setup, not names. I doubt Pelle would line up with Dzeko and Negredo in a single line like 90s 4-4-2 and let them walk around and wait for the ball.

I agree with Mole. If City try to play 5 in the middle to combat Barca they won't play their natural game which they're accustomed to all season.

Which of them is going to do that? And not just press, track back deep into the other half?

Gomez didnt surprise me, he does put in effort.

And it goes without saying Villa and Costa work hard.

Dzeko is lazy donkey so its going to be up to Negredo, who I dont see as a high energy player either.



Look at them here, doing nothing.

I saw that game and I have no clue what City / Pelle were doing at that time. My only explanation is that at the beginning of the season they weren't accustomed to the mechanisms of Pelle's system yet. Because normally Pellegrini's teams press high up the pitch and Mancini didn't train that way with City at all. Especially after that Bayern game I just can't imagine City going into this game and their strikers not putting in the effort.

Having said that, Dzeko is a scrub so Pelle will probably play Silva behind Negredo anyway but in principle, if Agüero were fit, I believe he would have gone 4-2-2-2 and it would have been the best way to play.

If Aguero was fit, I would agree too. But Dzeko and Negredo are different, they struggle covering ground.

Even in that game, Aguero gave effort, he was just lost and had no idea where he should be.

I wouldn't use that Bayern game as a comparison.... i agree they f*cked up bad.

But it wasn't just playing two strikers there was a bunch of other reasons and they wasn't in great form either.

They were getting beat and/or struggling against mid table dross at the time.

Now they have got used to Pelle and his way of things and everything is flowing.

As for picking up Busquets, Negredo could easily do that he's very good at closing down opposition players and winning the ball off them and he's very mobile.

I think they should stick to what they have been doing all season personally.

I have seen far too many teams adapt to Barca over the years and go away from what they know and get destroyed.

Too me for them to have any chance they should stick to what they know and enforce their strengths on Barca instead of adapting their strengths to stop Barca.

I dont really see what level they were playing at has to do with the tactical mistake of allowing space in between the line of attack and midfield.

As for Negredo. Closing down as in pressing yeah he can do, but coming back deep into his own half is equally crucial. That's a different story and I am yet to see him do it and I am yet to see City do it overall.

I am sure they will have a very respectable plan, be it 442 or otherwise but that wasnt really my point. Mine was, I will be much happier to see 442 than an extra man in midfield. I am always happier when I see that regardless of who it is (Atletico aside because calling that a 442 is just wrong).

I dont see how playing 4231/451 would hinder them at all. I dont believe they will be looking to dominate possession, they will likely cede it, therefore if they want to play on the counter attack they are going to one guy to hold the ball up (Negredo) and others who have the ability to make runs and play passes in behind/crosses (Navas, Yaya, Fernadinho, Silva all capable).

I dont see what the point of having two bigger strikers stand up against our back 4 do when they dont have the ball. And if one of them is coming back to help, your taking him away from his danger zone and then asking him to be a runner.

If we were smart, we would easily outplay such a 442.

I can't see any reason why we will receive anything other than thumping at Etihad. If City didn't park, use 4-5-1 etc in other words - play their normal game, they will win over this weak Barcelona team.

Nah, they won't, I will be there.