Champions League: Manchester City v Barcelona preview

Manchester City are hoping history will not repeat itself when they host Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The fixture is a repeat of the tie at the same stage of the competition last season, when the Catalan giants came out on top with a 4-1 victory on aggregate.

Martin Demichelis will be hoping to get the chance to make amends for last season, when he was sent off in the first-leg for bringing down Lionel Messi in the area. The Barca player converted the resulting spot-kick before Dani Alves struck to put the tie beyond doubt before the return leg.

It was a mixed weekend for the two sides heading into the midweek fixture. Manuel Pellegrini’s side thumped Newcastle 5-0 on Saturday to close the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea to five points.

Barcelona saw an 11-game winning run come to an abrupt end after being beaten by Malaga at home, a result which saw them fall four points behind Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Team news

Wilfried Bony could make his first start for Manchester City after coming off the bench during their victory over Newcastle on Saturday.

Yaya Toure will serve his final game of suspension after being sent off against CSKA Moscow in the group stage.

Luis Suarez is in line to play his first Champions League match since departing Liverpool for Barcelona at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Luis Enrique has nearly a full squad of players to pick from against Manchester City, but Thomas Vermaelen is still missing through injury.

Betting

Barcelona are well-fancied to progress through to the last eight, with Sky Bet making them 4/11 favourites to win the tie compared to2/1 on Manchester City. And Barca are favourites on the night at the Etihad too, although the odds on the first-leg result are much tighter at 11/10 on an away win and 9/4 for a home win, while a draw is 13/5.

Lionel Messi scored in each game when these sides met last season and he’s 6/4 to score in another Barcelona win. Meanwhile, City are 16/1 to win the competition for the first time, while Barcelona are 5/1to lift the trophy for the fifth time