DAVID Villa believes Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has the knowledge to expose Barcelona’s weaknesses in their Champions League round of 16 tie.
The Catalans proved to be too strong in the knockout stages of last year’s edition of the competition, but the former Barcelona attacker – who now plays for City’s MLS sister club New York City FC – believes a closer tie awaits this time around.
“I think it will be a very close tie,” Villa told the official City website.
“City and Barcelona are two of the best clubs in the world with great players so I’m sure it will be a very good tie to watch.
“I’m sure that Manuel Pellegrini and all his staff know Barcelona very well. When you face this kind of teams you have to make sure that you make it difficult for them and try to take advantage of their weaknesses.
“Barca are in very good form. They win games, they have closed the gap with Real Madrid and they won against Atletico – a very difficult team to beat – in Copa del Rey so they are in a good moment. I think they were also playing well before but they didn’t get the results. You always have more confidence when you win games.”
Villa joined City’s
The first leg is scheduled to take place in Manchester on February 24, with the return at Camp Nou on March 18.