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Pep Guardiola believes Man City can upset Barcelona on Tuesday night

Lionel Messi (C) scores his second goal against Man City
Image: Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-0 win against Manchester City at the Nou Camp on October 19

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will be treating Tuesday's Champions League clash with his former side Barcelona "like a final".

Guardiola believes the Spanish champions are beatable but thinks City will need an almost perfect display if they are to claim the three points.

Barcelona won the reverse match 4-0 at the Nou Camp a fortnight ago and, although they lie second in Group C, City are just a point ahead of Borussia Monchengladbach.

A win over Luis Enrique's side would greatly enhance City's qualification chances and Guardiola said: "We will try.

"I have never thought that we can't win a football match and I never will.

"It's difficult and we know we need to play almost perfectly to win. If not, we will congratulate them and move on.

"Maybe we are going to change the way we press, our build up, control. I would like to play at a good level for 90 minutes.

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Barcelona have arrived in Manchester for tomorrow's Champions League ganme against Manchester City.

"I'd like us to show courage and put everything into the game. Hopefully our quality can make the difference.

"For them it's not a final, for us it is like a final.

"There are just three games left. We dropped points in Glasgow [at Celtic] and we have to recover those points."

Pep Guardiola gestures on the touchline during the EFL Cup 4th Round
Image: Pep Guardiola admits City will need to be almost perfect if they are to beat Barcelona

Willy Caballero will be in goal for City due to Claudio Bravo's suspension and Guardiola has faith in his back-up keeper.

He added: "Every time he has played, he has played well.

"He gives me confidence. I have no doubts about him."

City have lost all five of their Champions League matches against Barcelona and have had a man dismissed in all but one of those contests, a statistic Guardiola says needs to change.

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"You have to learn," said the City boss.

"At that level, it's impossible to achieve your targets [with 10 men]. It's football, and football is a game of mistakes."

After going six games without a victory, the longest run in Guardiola's managerial career, City returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 4-0 win at West Brom.

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West Brom 0-4 Manchester City

And Guardiola added: "Winning the last game helped a lot but the Champions League is different.

"Tomorrow we have another chance against the best. We know them and they know us.

"I have been here three months, I was 20 years in Barcelona. I would like to do similar things but I need time."

City have injury problems at right-back, with Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta both unavailable, meaning Guardiola has to choose between Fernando, who played in that position for the first time against West Brom, and 19-year-old Pablo Maffeo.

Manchester City's striker Sergio Aguero celebrates after scoring the opening goal
Image: Sergio Aguero is likely to start on Tuesday night

But Sergio Aguero, who was surprisingly left out of the starting XI in Barcelona, is set to feature from the off this time after scoring twice against the Baggies.

Guardiola said: "When he is happy, of course all the team is happy."

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