Manchester City will be FC Barcelona's opponents in the Champions League's last 16

Barcelona (FCB).- Manchester City will be Barça’s opponents in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League following the draw which has taken place this Monday in Nyon, Switzerland. The two sides' only previous meeting in Europe came last season at exactly the same point in the competition. The first leg will be played in Manchester on the 18^th of February with the return leg at Camp Nou on the 18^th of March. We will take a look at the previous meetings between the side and at the team coached by Manuel Pellegrini.

Manchester City appeared to be out of the competition at one point in the group stage but two excellent results in their last two matches earned them a place in the last 16. On Match Day 5 a late goal from Sergio Agüero gave them all three points against Bayern at home before they went to Italy to defeat Roma 2-0 to secure passage to the next round.

Barça and ‘the Citizens’ know each other well after meeting in the competition at the same stage last season. City coach Pellegrini continues to enjoy the talents of a squad that contains names such as the currently injured Sergio Agüero, Vincent Kompany, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Eliaquim Mangala, Aleksander Kolarov, David Silva, Edin Dzeko, Samir Nasri and the former Barça player Touré Yaya.

In the competition last season, the only official meetings between the two clubs, the blaugranes won 2-0 away in Manchester before finishing off the tie with a 2-1 win at Camp Nou in the second leg.

Zubizarreta expects tough game

After learning that Barça will play Man City, Andoni Zubizarreta commented that “we’ll have to play our best to beat them. They’re a difficult opponent and there will be some good football played in these games … We have changed more than them compared to last year, but our ideas are the same. Nobody should doubt that we’ll go to Manchester looking to win the game.” He also commented on what an important loss Touré is to the team, but how the new signings made this year have given Pelligrini options that he didn’t have before.

Zubizarreta’s predecessor at FC Barcelona, Txiki Begiristain, who is now serving the same role at Manchester City, commented that “I’m sure it’ll be a great spectacle.”

The other ties in the last 16:

Atlético Madrid - Bayer Leverkusen

Real Madrid - Schalke 04

Chelsea - Paris Saint-Germain

Monaco - Arsenal

Porto - FC Basel

Bayern Munich - Shakhtar Donetsk

Dortmund - Juventus