The team that Barcelona seemingly never managed to avoid used to be AC Milan, but the Italians took themselves out of the competition last season, which gave Manchester City the opening to take over that spot. Barcelona and Manchester City faced each other at this very stage of the competition last season, with the Etihad Stadium also hosting the first leg of the tie. Barcelona were victorious over the two-legged affair by a score of 4-1, winning both games, both times scoring two goals, with City only getting on the scoreboard late in the return leg. The scorers for Barcelona were Lionel Messi and Dani Alves, both of whom scored once in each leg.
Both teams struggled at times in this edition of the Champions League, but it was a different struggle. Barcelona labored to a first place in a group that had two clear favorites for the top spot while Manchester City were put in a group of death with Bayern München, AS Roma and CSKA Moscow. City needed a win in the second to last group game, against Bayern, delivered by Kun Aguero, who may or may not return from injury by the time of this match-up, to force a "win and you're in" game against Roma. City were victorious once again and secured a place in the next round.
The dates of the matches have not yet been released, but the first leg, which will be played at Etihad, will be played on 17, 18, 24 or 25 February, and the second leg played on 10, 11, 17 or 18 March 2015 at the Camp Nou. We will keep you updated once they become available.