No Neymar? How Will Barcelona Line Up Against Manchester City This Evening?

It is finally here - the Champions League knockout stages are scheduled to kick off tonight with Manchester City hosting La Liga giants Barcelona. City, who have an incredible home record this season, will be up against some of the best players in the world and will need to stand tall in order to get anything out of it, but how are the Spaniards line up at the Etihad?

They're likely to come to Manchester in a 4-3-3 formation with a flexible frontline.

In goal it'll be Victor Valdes, with Dani Alves on the right and Jordi Alba on the left. In the middle I expect Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol to take up the positions.

In front of them in a midfield trio, I think it will be Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, who have made up a formidable unit in the middle of the pitch. They are all masters of their trade and City will need Yaya Toure to have a strong game.

Messi will be the spearhead of the attack, I would guess, with two quicker players on either side. Pedro and Alexis Sanchez are the players who I would suggest, though Neymar returned from injury at the weekend.