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I’d love to hear from you and as this is the last Women’s Champions League action before Christmas it seems fitting to have a festive theme. So any Xmas fun facts or puns are welcome. Mine to share with you is that Noel means birth, I learned that at a pub quiz yesterday. You can get in touch via email: [email protected].
Gareth Taylor said of tonight’s opposition: “I’ve played Barca three times in my time as head coach and been fortunate in the outcome of two of those games but they’ve been different players in those games and what Barca have done in the past few years. I want us to be there, and we have a long way to go. We proved on a special night for us that we can compete and beat one of the best in a long time but the challenge is small steps.”
Barcelona manager Pere Romeu has said his side are ready to fight for the win this evening: “The team wants to play matches like this. The players thrive in these settings and will come out to bite hard from minute one. We hope to have the optimal motivation to face this match.”
Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati won the FIFA Best award on Tuesday, read more about it here:
While City are second in the WSL, Barcelona are dominating Liga F. The Spanish giants are currently 11 points clear of second Real Madrid with 13 wins from 13 games so far this season. It’s not surprising with the amount of talent in their squad, including the FIFA Best winner…
Manchester City are currently without top scorer Bunny Shaw, Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and Vivianne Miedema and that is just the tip of the iceberg of their injury crisis. This, along with great tactics from Everton, led to City losing 2-1 to the Liverpudlian club last weekend. The defeat meant they could not capitalise on Chelsea dropping points to Leicester. City currently trail leaders Chelsea by six points in the WSL
The team news is here. Barcelona’s line-up shows their strength in depth with the stars on the bench. Alexia Putellas, who is returning to full fitness, and Caroline Graham Hansen are among the substitutes.
Barca: Coll, Batlle, Paredes, Leon, Brugts, Bonmati, Walsh, Patri, Paralluelo, Pajor, Pina
Subs: Gemma, Roebuck, Jana, Marta, Graham Hansen, Putellas, Rolfo, Nazareth, Vicky, Martina, Engen, Cano
City, meanwhile, have a strong line-up despite their extensive injury list. Notably it is Khiara Keating who starts in goal.
City: Keating, Aleixandri (C), Fowler, Roord, Kennedy, Ouahabi, Park, Casparij, Blindkilde Brown, Fujino, Hasegawa
Subs: Yamashita, Startup, Layzell, Coombs, Prior, Thomas, Murphy, O’Carroll
Preamble
Hello and welcome back to our Women’s Champions League coverage. Tonight we are focusing on Barcelona v Manchester City and the two clubs are vying to finish top of their group.
Both sides have already qualified for the quarter-finals but top spot in Group D is still up for grabs. City are currently top but if Barcelona beat them by two goals or more they will leapfrog them.
In the reverse fixture, City outplayed the defending champions and recorded a 2-0 victory. However, the English club are suffering through an injury crisis which has impacted their form.
We will take a closer look at who is missing for City and what has been said in the build-up to the match shortly but the team news has been announced so stay tuned for updates before kick-off at 5.45pm GMT.
