Gerardo Martino, Barcelona’s coach, has said he is looking forward to facing fellow South American Manuel Pellegrini after his side were drawn against Manchester City in the Uefa Champions League last 16 on Monday, and the Catalan side figures to be strengthened by the return of Lionel Messi.
City were arguably the strongest opponent with whom the Primera Liga leaders could have been paired. The English side’s 3-2 victory over Bayern Munich last week and their 6-3 hammering of the Premier League leaders Arsenal may be seen as fair warning by the Catalans.
David Silva, Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero are among City standouts returning to Spain, and Yaya Toure was part of Barca’s treble-winning side in 2009.
Martino has followed Pellegrini’s footsteps from coaching in South America to Spain, and he considers the Chilean among the world’s elite managers.
“I always said that Manuel’s road from South America to Europe interested me,” Martino said. “He may be one of the best coaches in the world right now, so I am happy to be going up against a side managed by him.”
Martino conceded, after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Villarreal, that he would like to cancel Christmas as his side have returned to form just in time for the Spanish winter break after Sunday’s trip to Getafe.
Fortunately, for the four-time European champions, Messi, the world player of the year, and the goalkeeper Victor Valdes should have recovered from their injuries in time for the first-leg, in Manchester on February 18.
Martino stressed the importance of being in top form.
“I don’t know if we will be favourites against City. However, what I do know is that Barcelona has to try and win all the competitions they play in and when you try to win all the competitions you obviously have difficult opponents to overcome.”
Tottenham, Juventus and Napoli learn their Europa League opposition
Tottenham Hotspur will face Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the last 32 of the Europa League without the coach who led the team to an unbeaten record in the group stage.
Tottenham were drawn against the Ukrainian side on Monday, an hour after Andre Villas-Boas was fired as manager.
Juventus will again face Turkish opposition, playing at home in the first leg against Trabzonspor. Juve dropped down to the Europa League after losing to Galatasaray last week and finishing third in their Uefa Champions League group.
Napoli, who also dropped out of the Champions League, are away first against Swansea.
In the other ties, Porto, who won the 2011 Europa League with Villas-Boas as coach, will play Eintracht Frankfurt, while Dynamo Kiev host Valencia, the 2004 winners.
Sevilla, who won in 2006 and ‘07, are away to Maribor. First-leg matches are played February 20, with return legs on February 27.
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