Manchester City should have nothing to fear from drawing Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League, says the director of
City scraped through their group behind Bayern Munich, and so were not seeded for the knockout stages, meaning they were always likely to be paired with difficult opposition in yesterday’s draw in Switzerland.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men were beaten by Barca at the same stage last season, losing 2-0 at home and 2-1 away and also finishing both games with only 10 men on the pitch.
However, after coming through against the odds from Group E and winning a decisive final game against Roma, which followed on
from a memorable 3-2 victory over Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium, Begiristain sees no reason why City should not have confidence against a club he knows well having served at the Nou Camp as both a player and director.
“It’s unbelievable – we don’t need to come next year,” Begiristain said when asked about being drawn against Barca again.
“Every tie in that draw is the same, it is fantastic, so we are looking forward to it,” he said.
“We have plenty of confidence with the way we qualified beating Bayern Munich at home and Roma away. So the players will be working hard to get fit and arrive in confidence for those games.
“We have improved our squad from last season and we have some real quality up front.”
Begiristain also admitted it would be a special night for him as he looks to help plot the demise of one of his old clubs.
“It will be emotional, and difficult as well, but is also a chance to visit family and friends,” added the 50-year-old.
“I have a lot of friends there, in the club and out of it.”