By I, Andrea Buratti, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3277048
Barcelona v Man City
Undoubtedly the tie of this round of fixtures sees Pep Guardiola return to the Nou Camp with his Manchester City side, who have looked a little more vulnerable in recent weeks after they won their first 10 games in all competitions under the Spaniard. Barca haven’t been in the best form themselves as they’ve managed just three wins in their last six in the league, but have won both of their Champions League games, thumping Celtic and picking up what could prove a crucial win at Monchengladbach.
Barca have won all 12 of their Champions League home games since Luis Enrique took over in 2014/15, leading at the break in nine of these victories and scoring 36 goals whilst conceding just six. They’ve beaten the likes of PSG, Bayern, Atletico and Man City themselves in that time and with that in mind there’s an argument that they’re too big a price to win at 1.53.
Indeed, though City won at Old Trafford, they were well beaten by Spurs in their last league road game and they’ve also lost seven of their nine trips to top-five ranked sides in the Champions League since 2012/13. They trailed at the break in three of the last four of these games and so we’re backing Barcelona/Barcelona Half Time/Full Time as we expect Pep to once again come unstuck returning to the Nou Camp, as he did with Bayern last year.
Recommendation: Barcelona/Barcelona HT/FT at 2.05
