Champions League Betting – Manchester City vs. Barcelona

Manchester City (+250) vs. Barcelona (+100) (Draw +260)

Thirsty for revenge, Manchester City will meet Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 for the second year in a row. The Sky Blues will host Los Blaugranas in the first leg tomorrow at City of Manchester Stadium (2:45 p.m. Eastern).

In the moneyline, Barca are the slight favorite at +100 despite playing away from home; Manchester City are +250, and the draw is +260. If you’re interested in player props, Lionel Messi is +375 to score the first goal, followed by teammates Neymar (+450) and Luis Suarez (+500). City’s Sergio ‘Kun’ is +550.

Last year, Barcelona beat Manchester City soundly in the Round of 16, taking the first leg 2-0 in England and then winning 2-1 back in Spain. Lionel Messi and Daniel Alves scored in each leg for Barca, while Vincent Kompany had the lone tally for City.

In the Group Stage on this year’s Champions League, Barcelona were dominant in Group F, winning five and losing one while outscoring their opponents 15-5.  The team won four games by at least two goals during the round robin.

Back home in La Liga, Barcelona are second in the table, four points behind Real Madrid.

City, meanwhile, was lucky to escape a deadly Group E, going 2-2-2 with just a +1 goal differential. City has also struggled a bit in the EPL lately, falling five points back of first-place Chelsea thanks to a five-game winless stretch. (Though City have rebounded with two decisive victories: 4-1 at Stoke City and 5-0 at home versus Newcastle.)

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique isn’t taking the Sky Blues lightly, and is expecting a tougher test than last year.

“They are a very difficult team, among the toughest two teams in the draw, the team everyone wanted to avoid and a team that are one of the contenders to win the Champions League,” said Enrique. “We are certain that the [series] will be very close because they are one of the contenders for the trophy, and they have strengthened their team by signing some interesting players.”

Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini recognizes the risk inherent in a meeting with Barcelona.

“Three weeks ago Messi and the team were a disaster, Real Madrid was the top leader, and they had problems with the president… In just one month, everything changes the other way around. I have the feeling that in football you never know what is going to happen next,” said Pellegrini.

Expect a close battle tomorrow in Manchester between these two domestic-league bridesmaids.

(Photo credit: By Lluís from Sabadell (Barcelona), España (LFS_14039) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)