FC Barcelona v Manchester City: Did you know…

FC Barcelona v Manchester City: Did you know…

Manchester City have never played an official match at the Camp Nou, but have played two friendlies Midfielder Touré Yayá returns to what was his home between 2007 and 2010

FC Barcelona will be defending their 2-0 first leg win against Manchester City on Wednesday night (8.45 PM CET, Canal+). They are looking for a seventh consecutive quarter finals appearance. Here’s a selection of trivia associated with the game:

  • It is the first time Manchester City have played an official match at the Camp Nou, but they have played two friendlies.

  • The first was in 1974, for FCB’s 75th anniverdsary, with the home side winning 3-2. The second was the Gamper in 2009, which Man City won, 1-0. They also met twice at the old Les Corts stadium in 1952 and 1957, with Barça winning both times, 5-1 and 3-2, respectively.

  • FC Barcelona won the first leg 2-0 away from home. On the eight occasions that they have defended such a scoreline in Europe at the Camp Nou, they have always qualified for the next round.

  • A win tonight would put Barça into the Champions League quarter finals for the seventh year in a row.

  • This is the first time City have played in the Champions League second round. In European competitions, they have played in the Iberian Peninsula five times before, with one win, one draw and three defeats.

  • Barça have played at home to English teams 27 times, getting 15 wins, drawing ten and losing just two.

  • In games at home to English sides, Messi has scored eight goals. He opened the scoring in the first leg of this tie and has the chance tonight to extend his impressive record.

  • The Argentinian is the all-time record goalscorer in this round of the competition with 16 goals in 17 matches.

  • There will be Argentinians on both benches at the Camp Nou, with Tata Martino on one and Rubén Cousillas on the other. 

  • Manchester City’s head coach Manuel Pellegrini is suspended. The Chilean has managed 22 games against Barça over the years, with four wins, four draws and 14 defeats.

  • Another of tonight’s protagonists will be Touré Yayá. The Ivorian midfielder returns to the Camp Nou, where he played from 2007 to 2010.

  • Tonight’s referee is France’s Stéphane Lannoy. He has officiated three Barça games before and the Catalans have always won with him in charge. The last time was this season’s 1-0 win at Celtic in the group stage.

  • Lannoy was also the referee in 2011 when Manchester City beat Bayern Munich 2-0.
Força Barça
Força Barça

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