Experienced midfielder and all-round Premier League ledge Frank Lampard has offered his thoughts on facing Barcelona head of the biggest game of Manchester City’s season so far.
Lampard was speaking to celebrate the inclusion of Bobby Moore in EA SPORTS FIFA 15 Ultimate Team Legends; a man he is certain would have coped with the rigours of the Champions League. “If you were to put Bobby in any era, in the era he played or moving up to the era now with Messi and Ronaldo, with his quality across the board, he would be able to deal with all of them.”
On his earliest memory of watching Barcelona…
I would have been watching Barcelona at about ten years old, I was always a big football fan. Unfortunately at that time we didn’t have the capability to watch it week in week out but I was aware of players like Gary Lineker, Mark Hughes, players who were British exports who went and played over there. We grew up with Barcelona as one of the top few clubs in world football and then as a teenager it was always a very glamorous club, and in the last I would say five to probably eight years they have created a new history of football and I think maybe before that they had some slightly lean years, but the last five or eight years I have played against them many a time and they have become the main team in world club football. So everyone who thinks of Barcelona and Real Madrid will think of two of the greatest clubs in world football.
On going up against Barcelona and how City plan to contain Messi, Neymar and Suarez…
I don’t think it’s a question of containing, it’s an obvious strength of theirs. All over the pitch they have strengths but their attack in those three they have world stars that we will have to deal with as a team, not just as a back four, as a team. We will have to try and not give them space to do what they do so well and I think it’s a question of two very good teams going against each other. Barcelona have got this record in recent years of winning Champions Leagues, winning La Liga. Manchester City are striving to get at that level and we will arrive at that level at some point. In terms of the next two games coming up, I think it’s a really hard one to call. I think Champions League at this level it’s what team individually plays the best, their best players step up on those two nights, what team focuses more and has that extra concentration through the whole game because at this level a small lapse could lose you the game. And then there is an element of luck; this is the best competition in world football, this is two good teams going against each other so we hope to come out on top but we will have to be at our absolute best to do that.
On whether Barcelona are the same force that they were under Pep Guardiola…
I think it’s hard to compare, I think we’re all gushing about the team that they had. The game that springs to my mind is the game that they had against Manchester United at Wembley in the Champions League final, I think they were at their absolute best, I think their strongest. when Messi, David Villa, Iniesta and Xavi were absolutely flying. It is a slightly new team as a bit of a transition has happened but I think in recent games back in Spain, certainly I have been keeping an eye on them and they have been getting up to those sort of levels again so it’s hard to compare over the years. We are going to be facing a really strong team with individuals including, for me, the greatest player in the world in Lionel Messi, so whatever way you look at it, it’s going to be a really tough game.
On whether Manchester City can go on to win the Champions League…
Of course, I think that anyone that looks at this will say that there’s five or six teams that are in contention: Barcelona, Man City are two of them, Real Madrid obviously are the current holders, Chelsea if you’re looking in England would be a massive strength, Bayern Munich and I think generally in the Champions League in recent years the big boys come out playing against each other. I think maybe Man City would be disappointed in recent years where they have got to the Champions League but for me it is coming, it’s a club that is forward thinking so I think that in England we should be proud that we have got teams that are always getting to these later stages of the Champions League and I think that Manchester City can. I can feel it in the club and we are certainly aware about what a big game it is that it’s a situation where we want to take it on and we want to show that you can get past Barcelona and try and advance all the way to the final.
Frank Lampard was speaking on behalf of the Bobby Moore Fund to celebrate the inclusion of England’s greatest ever captain in EA SPORTS FIFA 15 Ultimate Team Legends exclusively on Xbox. Donate to the Bobby Moore Fund at http://bobbymoorefund.cancerresearchuk.org and/or give this wonderful cause a follow on Twitter here
