MANCHESTER — Barcelona's passage to an eighth straight Champions League quarterfinal could be blocked by a Manchester City team desperate to end three years of underachievement in the competition. For the English champion, there's also the matter of avenging an exit at the hands of Barcelona at the same stage last season, when losses in both legs of the last 16 — for a 4-1 aggregate defeat — demonstrated the gulf between the clubs. So what has changed in the last 12 months? Barcelona has a different coach in Luis Enrique, an improved strike force after Luis Suarez joined Lionel Messi and Neymar, but perhaps a less dominant midfield as the impact of Xavi Hernandez starts to wane. Before Saturday's 1-0 loss to Malaga, Barcelona had won 11 consecutive games in all competitions to bring an end to a worrying period that featured below-par performances and speculation about a falling-out between Messi and Enrique. While the Spanish team breezed into the knockout stage with a match to spare, City squeezed through thanks to an astonishing late turnaround against Bayern Munich in its next-to-last group game and then a 2-0 victory in a win-or-bust match at Roma. City failed to advance from its Champions League group in back-to-back seasons, but has progressed for two seasons in a row to finally make an impact in Europe and reward the heavy spending of its owner from Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, since 2008. City also appears to have gotten over a slump in results over January, with big wins over Stoke and Newcastle in its last two Premier League games reviving its title defense and rediscovering the attacking swagger that characterized the team's last few seasons. City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes it could be different this time against Barcelona: his team is fresher — owing to early exits in both domestic cup competitions this season — and has gained more experience in Europe. Barcelona, spurred on by the sparkling Messi, starts as favorite but expect a more streetwise City over the two legs compared to last year's meetings. Pirlo sees chance for Juve Juventus playmaker Andrea Pirlo hopes this could be the season it finally re-establish itself on the European stage as he dreams of winning the Champions League again before he retires. Juve's maestro has been helping steer it towards a fourth successive Italian title, yet the gulf between a fading Serie A and the Champions League is so great that it is not seen as a major threat to Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. Juve was comprehensively outclassed by Munich in the quarterfinals two seasons ago and failed to make it beyond the group stage last term. With Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez attracting interest from abroad, and 37-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon still agile, this campaign could be the last real chance of European glory for the current team as it prepares to host Borussia Dortmund in its last 16 first leg tie also Tuesday. At the heart of their challenge is Pirlo, who will be 36 when this year's final comes around but who continues to work wonders as his breathtaking winner against Atalanta Friday demonstrated. The first meeting between Juve and Dortmund since the 1997 Champions League final, which the Germans won 3-1, now provides the acid test for the Italian champion. — Agencies
