BARCA GREAT JOB

Barcelona did a fantastic job against Premier league title chasers Manchester city in the first leg of their Champions League match at Etihad stadium. He managed to win the match 2-0 after goals from Lionel Messi and defender Dani Alves.

Many have praised the Catalan club for the way they handled the match and this is viewed as the finest that the club has played since the arrival of Gerardo Martino. The Argentine has been criticised for trying to change the tactics of Barcelona. The club has gone on from being heavily dependent on possession to one that plays long balls to its strikers immediately.

Against Manchester city, they went back to the tactics that paid rich dividends during the days of Guardiola. Ahead of the second leg match, Cesc Fabregas says that it is vital that the club returned to the tactics of the first leg – maintain possession. City have been regarded as one of the best attacking forces in European football right now. Fabregas says that the best form of defence is attack. He says that maintaining the ball as much away from their goal as possible will help them maintain this two-goal advantage.

Martino has no major injuries to deal with ahead of this encounter.

"We cannot let it become an open match, running up and down the whole time because that plays to their strengths. We need to control the game by having the ball and creating opportunities, but the most important thing is to finish our attacks so we don't allow them to play on the counter-attack. I think we need to be almost perfect to ensure we go through to the quarter-finals,” said Fabregas, who is fast becoming one of the important players at the club. He is expected to start in the midfield along with Xavi.