Barcelona Women<\/strong><\/a> and Manchester City Women<\/strong><\/a> will battle it out for top spot in Group D when they face off at Estadi Olimpic Luis Companys in Wednesday’s Women’s Champions League<\/strong><\/a> fixture.<\/p>\n The Women’s Super League side are sitting in pole position with a perfect record, while the Catalan giants are three points adrift in second place.<\/p>\n Barcelona are hoping to retain their UWCL crown after winning the top prize in European football in three of the last four seasons. <\/p>\n Their bid to win a fourth UWCL trophy got off to a rocky start as they fell to a 2-0 away defeat against Man City on matchday one.<\/p>\n However, they quickly got their campaign up and running with 7-0 and 9-0 home wins over Hammarby and St Polten respectively.<\/p>\n Pere Romeu<\/strong><\/a>‘s side went on to claim a 4-1 away win over St Polten in Austria, before they experienced more success in last week’s trip to Sweden, with Ewa Pajor<\/strong><\/a> netting a brace in a 3-0 victory over Hammarby, keeping Barcelona in the hunt to secure top spot in Group D.<\/p>\n The Liga F champions know that they have to beat Man City by a two-goal margin if they are to leapfrog their English opponents into first place.<\/p>\n They will certainly fancy their chances of claiming all three points after winning each of their last 12 competitive games since losing to Man City in the reverse fixture.<\/p>\n Man City have been flawless in their first-ever UWCL group-stage appearance, having taken maximum points from each of their five matches.<\/p>\n They began the main draw with a statement 2-0 home win over Barcelona, courtesy of goals from Naomi Layzell<\/strong><\/a> and Bunny Shaw<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Gareth Taylor’s side then showed great character to come from 2-1 down to beat St Polten 3-2, before they recorded back-to-back European victories over Hammarby.<\/p>\n Man City enjoyed more success in last week’s home clash against St Polten, with Lily Murphy<\/strong><\/a> and Kerstin Casparij<\/strong><\/a> finding the net in a 2-0 victory to ensure that the Citizens will enter matchday six as one of three teams with a 100% record in this season’s group stage.<\/p>\n Their perfect record will come under threat in Wednesday’s fixture, especially as an injury-hit Man City side will be in a downbeat mood following a surprise 2-1 defeat in Sunday’s WSL clash against Everton, leaving them six points adrift of WSL leaders Chelsea.<\/p>\n They will have to pick themselves up for a trip to Barcelona, knowing that a draw or a defeat by a one-goal margin will be enough to secure top spot, although they would love nothing more than to claim their first-ever win in Spain in European competition.<\/p>\n Barcelona Women Women’s Champions League form:<\/p>\n Barcelona Women form (all competitions):<\/p>\n Manchester City Women Women’s Champions League form:<\/p>\n Manchester City Women form (all competitions):<\/p>\n Barcelona are unable to call upon Martina Fernandez<\/strong><\/a> due to a knee issue, while Ellie Roebuck<\/strong><\/a> and Keira Walsh<\/strong><\/a> are doubts after missing Sunday’s win over Valencia due to illness.<\/p>\n Caroline Graham Hansen<\/strong><\/a> will have to be assessed after her substitute appearance against Valencia was cut short due to an injury issue.<\/p>\n Alexia Putellas<\/strong><\/a> has missed the last four matches due to injury, but the two-time Ballon d’Or winner could return to the squad for Wednesday’s UWCL fixture.<\/p>\n As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon a number of key players, including Lauren Hemp<\/strong><\/a>, Vivianne Miedema<\/strong><\/a> and Shaw.<\/p>\n Defender Alex Greenwood<\/strong><\/a> is set to miss a second straight game after picking up an injury in last week’s UWCL win over St Polten.<\/p>\n The visitors are also without Sandy MacIver<\/strong><\/a> and Risa Shimizu<\/strong><\/a>, while it remains to be seen whether Layzell will be ready to feature in the matchday squad.<\/p>\n Barcelona Women possible starting lineup:<\/strong> Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:<\/strong> Man City may have won all five of their group games, but they will travel to Barcelona without a number of key players, and we think that their depleted squad could find it tough going against the European champions.<\/p>\n With that in mind, we think that the hosts will do enough to win by a two-goal margin to leapfrog Man City in the standings.<\/p>\n For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n ID:560773:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect14177:<\/span><\/p>\n
\nMatch preview<\/h2>\n
![\"Barcelona](\"https:\/\/sm.imgix.net\/24\/42\/ewa-pajor.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip\" "\\"Barcelona")
\u00a9 Imago<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n![\"Manchester](\"https:\/\/sm.imgix.net\/24\/50\/gareth-taylor.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip\" "\\"Manchester")
\u00a9 Imago<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n![\"Manchester](\"https:\/\/sm.imgix.net\/24\/41\/khadija-shaw.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip\" "\\"Manchester")
\u00a9 Imago<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Leon, Rolfo; Bonmati, Guijarro, Pina; Nazareth, Brugts, Pajor<\/p>\n
Yamashita; Casparij, Aleixandri, Kennedy, Ouahabi; Roord, Hasegawa, Blindkiled; Park, Fujino, Fowler<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n![\"SM](\"https:\/\/sm.imgix.net\/20\/33\/sm-words-green-background.png?w=210&h=53\" "\\"SM")
<\/p>\nWe say: Barcelona Women 3-1 Manchester City Women<\/h2>\n
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\nPreviews by email<\/h2>\n