Barça test exciting Bony
Wilfried Bony is hoping to make his mark on the UEFA Champions League after finally arriving at Manchester City just before the competition resumes.
The striker joined City from Swansea for an initial £25m last month but City fans were kept waiting to see him in action due to his involvement in Côte d'Ivoire's CAF Africa Cup of Nations win. The prospect of playing Champions League football helped entice the former Vitesse Arnhem and Sparta Prague forward to the Etihad Stadium and he could be thrown straight in at the deep end against Barcelona on Tuesday.
City came through a troubled group campaign to reach the knockout stages in dramatic fashion in December and their reward is a daunting last-16 tie with the Catalan giants for a second successive year. Bony said: "It is a great opportunity for me and another experience in my life. I am happy to be here.
"The Barcelona game will not be easy. Barcelona are in good form now. But we will do our best on the pitch and try to play to our strengths and try our best to win that game. We know the game back in Barcelona will not be easy but we are confident we can do something."
European turnaround
City might not have been able to offer Champions League opportunities to Bony for the remainder of this season had they not turned around a perilous situation in the group stages. Manuel Pellegrini's men looked to be heading out of the competition prematurely after collecting just two points from their opening four games.
They roared back to form with successive wins over Bayern Munich and Roma - notably without suspended talisman Yaya Toure - and kept their interest going against the odds. But the task ahead of them is a tough one. Barca have returned to form in Spain and City are still trying to still trying to pick up their Barclays Premier League challenge after a frustrating January.
City were also outplayed by Barça at the same stage last season, losing the tie 4-1 on aggregate. The first leg at Eastlands hinged on a controversial decision that saw Martin Demichelis concede a penalty and get sent off - for an offence that seemed outside the area - but City were still a distinct second best in the 2-0 loss.
The tie could not be retrieved at the Nou Camp and City's woes were compounded when Pablo Zabaleta was dismissed. They will again be without Toure for the first leg, as Bony's international team-mate completes his three-match ban for his red card against CSKA Moscow in November.
In addition to that, top scorer Sergio Aguero, Gael Clichy, Edin Dzeko and Zabaleta are all just one booking away from a suspension.