Manchester City had a tough Champions League draw as they were pitted against Barcelona with a match that kicks off on February 24 at the Etihad Stadium and predictions are already being made as to which team has the upper hand and according to David Villa, the Spanish forward believes that it will be a very close match as both squads have some of the best players in the world but Villa stated that Manchester City is well aware of the weaknesses of Barcelona.
“I think it will be a very close tie. City and Barcelona are two of the best clubs in the world with great players so I’m sure it will be a very good tie to watch. I’m sure that Manuel Pellegrini and all his staff know Barcelona very well. When you face this kind of teams you have to make sure that you make it difficult for them and try to take advantage of their weaknesses.’’ Former Barcelona player, David Villa said.
Before Manuel Pellegrini was selected as the coach of Manchester City on June of 2013, the Chilean manager had already coached a number of clubs including: Real Madrid, Villareal and Malaga just to name a few.
During Pellegrini’s time in charge of Malaga, he failed to defeat Barcelona and the overall record of Pellegrini when playing against Barcelona is a very negative one as the record shows a total of 22 matches played with only 4 games being claimed as a victory for Pellegrini while also experiencing 14 losses and 4 draws.
It hasn’t been an easy task for Pellegrini when he faces off with Barcelona but the Chilean manager is now eager on changing things around as he is preparing his Manchester City squad for the 1rst leg of their Champions League match in a game that Manchester City has to score goals and take advantage of the fact that the 1st leg will be played in their home turf at the Etihad Stadium and a positive scoreboard is needed if the English team has any hopes of progressing into the next stages of the Champions League.