The Five Best Matchups of UEFA Champions/Europa League Knockout Round

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2.)  Barcelona- Manchester City (Champions League)

Who doesn’t love a good rematch? Barca beat Manchester City pretty handily last year in the knockout stages, controlling the tempo, possession, and simply out playing Manuel Pellegrini’s side in almost every aspect of the game.   While my inclination is to side with History as it tends to repeat itself, City were extremely impressive in the back half of their group stage games, in particular their comeback victory at home over German Juggernauts Bayern Munich.

Sergio Aguero’s injury, however, may bring City’s momentum to a screeching halt.  He was in red-hot form in both European and League play but unfortunately an injury acquired versus Everton will keep him out of the picture for quite some time.  Unfortunate, because he was the one who lead City on their comeback these past few weeks.  For Barcelona, they will consistently threaten to score with their trio of attackers Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez.  But they have had defensive struggles in recent weeks, an aspect that perhaps City can exploit.