In none of the 1/8 round matches from last week of the Champions League were scored over 2.5 goals. Surely, the football fans are expecting more exciting games and the one between Manchester City and Barcelona definitely seems quite promising.
Despite the good performance in the Premier League, Manchester City do not show the required level of play in the Champions League. They managed to overcome the group stage of the tournament extremely difficultly, after only 2 wins out of 6 games. Unlike the previous season, Manchester City are not being so solid in front of own audience. At home, City got some tough defeats, including the surprising loss to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.
Manchester City, however, have the necessary quality to deal with any opponent. The individual qualities of players like Aguero, can be crucial for every match, as was the case in the game against Bayern Munich, where Aguero won the three points of the citizens, almost single-handedly, after scoring a hat-trick.
A huge advantage for Barcelona in this match is certainly their experience in the Champions League, as they are regularly involved in the latter stages of the tournament. The bookmakers define Barcelona as an absolute favorite to qualify for the quarterfinals. With Messi, Neymar and Suarez in attack, the Spaniards can achieve a comfortable result before the second leg. However, Barcelona can make some mistakes and even conceded defeats to teams like Malaga, Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad.
Both teams are in the fight for the title in their domestic league and they are only a few points behind the top spot. Manchester City and Barcelona have a lot of world-class players and it would be a surprise, if in this meeting there are less than 3 goals scored.