Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has insisted that his side will do what they can to beat Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

The Catalan giants make the trip to the Etihad Stadium tomorrow night as the knockout stage of the competition gets underway.

Pellegrini is aware that his team are up against fierce opposition in Barca, but he is hopeful that they can take a positive result back to the Camp Nou for the second leg.

"At this stage of the competition when you play over 180 minutes it is very important to win the first game. After that, try not to concede goals here at home. If you can't draw, 0-0 is better than 1-1," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"Our team is also demonstrating we are playing better away than we did last year. The main thing for our team is to try to fight for the possession of the ball, that's very important. We need to have the ball as long as we can. After that, give good distribution to take Barcelona as near to their box as we can."

Manchester City were beaten 4-1 on aggregate by Barcelona at the same stage of last season's Champions League.