City’s flagging form could make them dangerous, warns Enrique
BARCELONA manager Luis Enrique believes Manchester City’s recent slump could make them more dangerous opponents in tonight’s decisive Champions League clash at Camp Nou.
City go into the last 16, second leg fixture trailing 2-1 and having achieved just three wins from their last 11 games in all competitions. Despite that run Enrique remains wary and has vowed to go for the jugular this evening rather than rest on their advantage.
“Whenever rival teams are in these situations they can either be very dangerous or it could be better for us,” he said. “We know we are taking on one of the favourites for the tournament. They have the potential to make things difficult for us. We saw that in the first game, despite our good start, so we are not taking anything for granted.
“We never set up defensively; we always go out to win the game. To try and play percentages would be very dangerous. We focus on beating the opponent, trying to overcome them.”
Enrique said he expected opposite number Manuel Pellegrini to keep faith with a two-man attack despite criticism of its effectiveness in the first leg, where two Luis Suarez strikes outweighed one by Sergio Aguero and only Joe Hart’s late penalty save from Lionel Messi spared City a more damaging scoreline.
“I don’t think we’ll see any surprises from City or Pellegrini,” said the former Spain midfielder, who is in his first season in charge.
The Barca head coach dismissed concerns that Sunday’s Clasico against bitter enemies and title rivals Real Madrid might distract his team from the more immediate task of seeing off the English champions. “There are not two games for us to think about, just the one we are playing tomorrow,” he added. “All other games do not interest me.”