The Manchester City vs Barcelona Champions league match will be played this Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at the Etihad stadium.
Barcelona is not in great form at the moment, they’ve won only 3 out of their last 5 games in La Liga, but they are a strong side, which makes them maybe a slight favorite in this match.
Gerardo Martino will probably play in 4-3-3 formation in this match.
Goalkeeper: Victor Valdes
Valdes is standard choice for the Barcelona side, and he will surely start this match.
Right back: Dani Alves
Same as Valdes, Alves is irrepleacable in the Barca squad, and he will feature from the beginning of this match.
Central backs: Carles Puyol and Pique
This is the most probable central backs pair, since Mascherano has slight injury problems.
Left back: Jordy Alba
Alba will probably make his comeback to the starting eleven in this match. The Spanish international was injured, but the last reports say that he is ready and could feature in this game from the beginning.
Central midfielders: Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Xavi
This lineup was almost mandatory in the last few years, but this season Xavi and Iniesta haven’t been playing as good as they have played in the recent years. However, Martino will give a chance to this old duo in order for them to shine again, at the expense of Cesc Fabregas. Busquets will be, of course, slightly more defensive, in a defensive central midfielder role.
Central attackers: Aleksis Sanchez, Lionel Messi and Pedro
Neymar and Messi were playing in the “false 9” role this season. When Messi returned to the pitch from his injury, he mostly featured in that spot, and Neymar is playing more on the wing, and he is less productive in that position. Therefore, Martino will probably pick up Sanchez and Pedro instead of him, because they are more suitable to that role, and Neymar will most likely feature from the bench, in the second half of the game.
