1. Man City seek Barcelona revenge
STUNG BY A chastening 4-0 defeat at the Camp Nou two weeks ago, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola makes a second attempt to outwit his former club Barcelona in the Champions League tonight.
Guardiola’s men were undone by the second-half dismissal of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo on 19 October, when Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to propel his side five points clear of City at the Group C summit.
Another defeat would give Borussia Moenchengladbach and Celtic — who meet in Germany — an opportunity to overtake City and Guardiola knows his side face a major test of their nerve at the Etihad Stadium.
Barcelona are aiming for a sixth successive victory over City, who they eliminated from the Champions League in both 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Luis Enrique’s side, European champions for a fifth time in 2015, require just a point to reach the last 16 and will be assured of first place if they win and Gladbach do not prevail at home to Celtic.
Barca are currently on a four-game winning streak, but they arrived in Manchester on Monday with a depleted squad.
With Gerard Pique (ankle) and Jordi Alba (hamstring) absent, as well as Aleix Vidal (thigh), they are missing two first-choice defenders, while captain Andres Iniesta (knee) is also out and Jeremy Mathieu is suspended.
2. Celtic’s hopes of qualification hang by a thread
Misfiring Borussia Moenchengladbach are looking to complete a Champions League double over Celtic this evening and victory could see them knock Manchester City out of second place in Group C.
Gladbach beat Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic in Glasgow 2-0 a fortnight ago thanks to goals by Lars Stindl and Andre Hahn and another win would put them second if City lose at home to Barcelona.
The Germans earned their first points in the group by beating Celtic, who are bottom of the table with one point.
If Rodgers’ side lose again, and City avoid defeat against Barcelona, the Scottish champions’ slim chance of a last-16 spot will be over.
But Borussia’s goalless draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday meant they failed to score in all four Bundesliga matches in October and coach Andre Schubert is under pressure to get his team firing again.
The last few weeks have not been easy for Schubert, who has just the win at Celtic and a 2-0 German Cup win at second-division VfB Stuttgart to show after 374 minutes without a goal in the German league.
Gladbach are 11th in Germany’s top flight while runaway Scottish league leaders Celtic have won their last five domestic games.
Rodgers has been dealt a major blow with three more players out of their trip to Gladbach with striker Leigh Griffiths ill, plus defenders Jozo Simunovic and Kolo Toure ruled out by injury. while left-back Kieran Tierney was already missing through injury.
3. Giroud eager to regain starting spot
Arsenal could clinch qualification for the knockout stage yet again with a win when they take on Ludogorets in Bulgaria, provided Paris Saint-Germain avoid defeat in Basel. PSG are also in a position to seal their place in the last 16 for the fifth straight campaign.
Olivier Giroud is hoping to finally get a start for the Gunners as they aim to stay on track to finish first in Group A ahead of the derby against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
My turn will come,” the French striker said this week. “I came back late from the Euros and was not fit enough to play straight away, then, unfortunately, I had an annoying injury.
“Obviously I prefer to be on the pitch but I needed to take my time. My injury is now behind me and I want to look forward now and qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.
“I am pleased to be back. There’s also a big game on Sunday. I am just concentrating on what I have to do.”
4. Torres the right man for Atleti
Diego Simeone is likely to hand a start to Fernando Torres against Rostov tonight as Atletico Madrid look to book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Last season’s beaten finalists boast a 100% record in the group stage this term and will guarantee a spot in the knockouts if they beat their Russian opponents at the Vicente Calderon.
Torres has not started a match since the 1-0 win in the reverse fixture on 19 October, and the former Liverpool striker has not scored for Atleti since netting a double in the 5-0 LaLiga win over Sporting Gijon on 17 September.
However, Simeone is keen to lean on the 32-year-old’s experience as he looks to seal safe passage to the next phase with two games to spare.
“Fernando knows the competition and has the quality to help the side,” the Argentine boss said. We need him to play as he did in Rostov, where he helped the side a lot. That’s why I’m thinking of starting him.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich can also clinch qualification for the last 16 — for the 14th season in a row — as they visit PSV Eindhoven in the other Group D game.
Here are tonight’s games (all 7.45pm):
(C) AFP 2016
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