Match Of The Week Preview: Issue 4

UEFA Champions League Matchday 3
FC Barcelona vs Manchester City FC
Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
2:45pm EST, 8:45pm Local, FS1

Coming up this Wednesday night will be a showdown of epic proportion as we finally get to see Barcelona squad off against Man City in what has surely been deemed the most anticipated matchup of this seasons’ Champions League Group Stage.  I will touch upon key players, delve into what makes this game so special, and reveal why it is a rivalry game of sorts, in-spite of these two clubs only meeting for the 5th time.

To start, Barcelona and Man City are both considered the best in their respective leagues.  Barca, while currently fourth in La Liga, have won the domestic double— league and cup, each of the past two seasons, including a treble winning 2014-15 campaign.  As for Man City, they won the Premier League in 2014-2015, finished fourth in 2015-2016, and are currently first in this young 2016-17 season.  Therefore, this game should produce some of the highest caliber performances. This can be attributed to these teams possessing some of the world’s best collection of footballers, coupled with great managers toeing the sideline. 

Over the past decade, the Citizens have evolved into an English power, thanks to a new deep pocketed ownership group. This has allowed a club that historically has played second fiddle in its own city of Manchester, to now bearing the country’s flag in search for European supremacy.  The influx of money has brought in the likes of star striker Sergio Agureo (Premier Leagues’ best goalscorer in goals per min), electric wingers Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane, dazzling midfielders in David Silva and Kevin DeBruyne, and perhaps England’s best defensive prospect since John Terry in John Stones, to name a few.

As for Barcelona, its pedigree is only rivaled by that of Los Blancos in the Spanish capital, as the club has seemingly always produced silverware since it inception in 1899.  I’m talking five European/Champions League Trophies, five European Super Cups, 24 La Liga Titles, 28 Copa Del Rey Triumphs, and 12 Spanish Super Cups, as some of the premium pieces.  The trophy cabinet or better yet, the museum that houses all of the hardware Barca has inside the Camp Nou is quite an amazing sight to be seen, but that’s a story for another day.  Also unlike Man City, Los Cules didn't just have a rich ownership group to feed the club money and players, rather FC Barcelona is owned by the city, by the fans, by its people, similar to that of the Green Bay Packers in the NFL, which as fans of the NFL can attest to, undoubtedly adds to the mystique of Green Bay.  In addition, the players that Barca possess, while many of them were so-called free agents or bought players, the core that has led to perhaps the greatest run of success in modern day soccer was born and bread from Barca’s world renowned youth academy La Masia.  It has produced legendary and world class players such as Andres Iniesta, Xavi Herndadez, Carles Puyol, Gerrard Pique, Sergio Busquets, and the all-time great in Lionel Messi.  Four of these six players are still on the current roster and in prime form, meaning Man City is going to have its hands full in this one.

Everything for Barca begins and ends with its Maestro Messi.  The record five time Ballon D’or winner (Awarded to the best player in Europe/World) is back and healthy for this pivotal match.  He was out for nearly four weeks, but was subbed on after the break this past Saturday and looked in fine fettle as he scored two minutes on.  Messi can wreak havoc through his deadly accurate left foot whether its from a free kick or the run of play.  The Maestro can pick out a pass that only he can see with, what BEIN Sports’ own, Roy Hodson calls, his “flies eye vision”.  He can break a defense down by simply making half the opposing team look silly as he dribbles in and around them on way to goal, and then sharply and softly chipping the ball over the outstretched ‘keeper, in this case Claudio Bravo.  Yes, Messi can do it all, and the Man City defense, led by young, but talented John Stones, will have to keep its defensive shape or gaps will be sure to appear and Messi will either score himself or set things up for Neymar Jr and Luis Suarez, two world class players themselves.  One man that can act as a catalyst and a leader on the pitch for Man City is newly acquired goalkeeper Bravo.  Why him? Whelp, the past three seasons he plied his trade donning a catalan crest.  Yup thats right, he manned the posts for Barcelona before losing the job this past season to the young, but talented Marc Andre Ter Stegen.  Thus, expect him to provide as much insight to his teammates regarding the Barcelona attack as he can.

In addition, Man City’s new boss Pep Guardiola will be heading back for another trip to the Camp Nou since leaving the Catalans more than four years ago.  Guardiola is simply a mastermind, one of the games greatest managers, and the one credited with molding this current core of La Masia players into European Champions.  He led Barcelona to multiple Champions League victories along with a bevy of other titles, but for the third time he’ll be in the opposing managers’ box, a place where he hasn’t fared well whilst going up against his former squad.  The Spaniard and his Bayern Munchen team were bounced in the 2014-15 Champions League Semifinal to Barca, courtesy of an electric performance from the Catalan front three over the two legs.  Therefore, this match will feature as something of a derby as both Bravo and Guardiola will be seeking revenge for days gone by, and Man City will be hoping to record its first ever win over Europe’s alpha, inside the most visited stadium in the world, the 90,000 plus Camp Nou.  So make sure to crack open an Estrella Damm or a Newcastle Brown Ale and simply sit back and watch the magic unfold.

LSB Prediction: 3-1 FC Barcelona