Weebles come together at Camp Nou…

…which one of them will break the laws of physics and fall down?

It happens to the best

Two teams cram-packed with talent have been misfiring of late and, despite the home side already leading 2-0 at the half way stage, that makes this tie at least a little more interesting.

Barcelona, by their standards, have been having a wobble; winning only 3 of their last 6 games in all competitions and currently sit in 3^rd place, 4 points behind leaders Real Madrid in La Liga.

Similarly we have won only 3 of our last 6; sitting 4^th and 9 points off the top of the Premier League but with, of course, 3 very important ‘games in hand’ over leaders Chelsea.

Aside from a small matter of home advantage and a 2-0 lead; in some ways it couldn’t be poised any better really…

Priorities

 

Regular readers will know what I think of this competition when pitched against the far more important Premier League title and, so, having to REALLY throw ourselves into this game to stand a CHANCE of getting anything from it concerns me somewhat. I’ve already heard ‘tub-thumping’ from both Hart & Kompany in recent days, which is all well ‘n’ good. But if we lose any key players to injury due to overexertion in this game ahead of important Premier League games I, for one, will be furious!

Camp Nou

Okay, all that aside, here’s my Pellegrini-predicted starting 11 and formation…

4-5-1:

_______________Aguero_______________

 

 

Nasri___________________________Silva

_______________Toure________________

_______Fernandinho_____Milner_________

Kolarov___Lescott___Kompany___Zabaleta

 

 

________________Hart________________

 

Subs: Pantilimon, Clichy, Garcia, Rodwell, Navas, Negredo, Dzeko.

Hart gets a recall after 2 games out in both the League & F.A. Cups; Zabaleta, Kompany & Kolarov all return also after their absence against Wigan. Thankfully Demichelis is suspended but, ironically, he might have been more suited (and is certainly more experienced) to European competitions. But he’s still a liability and I personally feel safer with the combination of Vinny & Joleon.

I think Manuel will pick a packed midfield despite needing to score at least two without reply. And, with that in mind, I think he’ll go for the more mobile and slightly more counter-attacking-option of Milner ahead of Garcia next to Fernandinho in the middle. Yaya will, I’m sure, be more advanced; Nasri & Silva complete the attacking trio behind lone striker Sergio.

If needed we certainly have some attacking options on the bench with the European-experienced Navas, Negredo & Dzeko. We also have defensive cover-options but, should it be required, Garcia might have to slot into a centre-half position.

Result? I think we’ll score and we might even get 2. But shutting them out on our own patch was difficult enough and so I just can’t see them not scoring. We might scrape a draw or even a narrow win but I think our participation in this competition ends this evening.

 

 

 

 

 

Barca & City wobble...but it's City who'll fall down.

Regardless, enjoy the game!