OPINION: Barça v Manchester City is not a war, it is a marvellous game
The Gods of football, hidden within the always disturbing UEFA balls, are definitively erratic, colourful and filled with drama for Barça.
Again, they have decided that Pep Guardiola should cross the path of the Blaugrana, as if neither of the two could escape their own destiny. They already paired him with Barça when he was at Bayern, in that tie resolved by Leo Messi in an extra-terrestrial fifteen minutes, and fate has struck again.
There is no doubt that Barca v Manchester City will be the great showpiece of the Champions League group phase, but for however many stars that Pep's renovated side have assembled, Barça can and should assume calmly their role of favourites.
They have a superior squad, a defined style and are currently a much more mature and proven team, against a City that are still wet behind the ears and under construction. This particular game comes too early for them.
The encounter does undoubtedly have an enormous emotional weight to it, as City, with Pep at the helm, and Txiki Begiristain, Ferran Soriano and a delegation of Catalan executives behind the scenes, aspire to become somewhat of a Barça in exile.
Those who need to desperately sell City as a malicious enemy that wishes to destroy Barça will now run to bill this exciting duel as a new war of the worlds, but they will gain have little luck. Because in Manchester, there is a serious project underway, for the first time, to develop a hybrid football club inspired in part by successful Premier League clubs, and in part by Barça, something which is nothing short than a homage to the famous Blaugrana model.
The presence of Claudio Bravo will add some spicy drops to the mix, but whoever wishes to paint the Chilean as a traitor will again find it tough, because he himself was the first to thank the Catalan club for everything they gave him these past years and proclaim that he "will always carry Barça in his heart".
When the game begins, as should be the case, the two teams will battle to the end for victory, and the Barça fanbase will think only about a Blaugrana win. But to take advantage of this meeting to settle old disputes is, on top of ridiculous, useless. Because City v Barça will not be an idelogical contest. It will be a marvellous match watched by the entire world.
