UWCL: Alex Greenwood and Ona Batlle preview Man City vs Barcelona clash | OneFootball

In one of the blockbuster clashes of the Champions League season, Manchester City will host Barcelona at the Joie Stadium. The two sides last met in March 2021 with Barcelona winning the quarter-final 4-2 on aggregate.

Ahead of the game, Man City’s Alex Greenwood and Ona Batlle of Barcelona sat down with the media to discuss Wednesday night’s clash.

Manchester City have been absent from the Champions League since September 2021, after Gareth Taylor’s side bowed out of the competition in the qualifying round. Barcelona have lifted the trophy three times in the past four years, securing their domestic title for five consecutive seasons.

Alex Greenwood

Newly appointed Manchester City captain Alex Greenwood relishes the opportunity to compete with some of the best players in the world.

“We’ve missed out the last couple of years and I’ve been really frustrated by that, but we’ve worked really hard to be in this position and we are in a competition where we belong.”

Whilst the City captain is well aware of the calibre of her teams opponent, Greenwood insisted that the Sky Blues would approach this game as any other.

“They are the champions for a reason,” she said. “We massively respect Barcelona, but we’ll try and bring our game and oppose ourselves on them. They are the best team in the world. They’ve been dominant in both their league and in Europe over the last couple of years. I think individually and collectively, they are a top team. We are excited to test ourselves against the best — that’s what football is all about.”

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Ona Batlle

Barcelona full-back Ona Batlle was asked whether the game held any special significance. Batlle had previously spent three seasons in Manchester, playing for City’s fierce rivals Man United.

She answered: “It’s really special the game that we’re going into. Playing against Manchester City, I’ve obviously got some great colleagues there, great players also. We have a special friendship there with Laia [Aleixandri] and Leila [Ouahabi] but we understand the difference between what an on field and an off field relationship is as well. It’ll be a very special game in the Champions League between great friends.”

Battle too was quick to dismiss any notion that Manchester City would be an easy opponent.

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