Why Yaya Toure Is Key for Manchester City to Topple Barcelona

The stage is set for Manchester City's upcoming Champions League clashes against Barcelona. With Yaya Toure now back in the fold for the Citizens, many are expecting a sharp upturn in fortunes.

But will the Ivorian midfielder really provide them with the boost they need to topple the Catalan giants?

Finishing second in Group E behind Bayern Munich, Manuel Pellegrini's men managed to find their way out of a tough group-stage draw that also included CSKA Moscow and AS Roma.

And despite not being involved in two of City's best wins against Roma and Bayern, it's clear that Toure can help motivate his side to a last-16 victory.

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A key performer and a valuable team member, it's going to be interesting to see just how effective Toure can be against Barcelona at the Camp Nou as the 31-year-old is suspended for their home leg.

Let's analyse exactly how the former Olympiacos star will help earn advancement past Luis Enrique's men.

Citizens have struggled in his absence

It's no secret that the reigning Premier League champions have stuttered without the 31-year-old Toure in their side of late. And although Goal.com's Peter Staunton has suggested that City would be better off without him, results since the turn of the new year suggest otherwise.

Struggling to get anywhere near the high-quality football we're all so used to seeing City churn out, they have hit quite a few nadirs. And things got particularly bad when Toure was away at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast.

Racking up more losses and draws combined than wins, the story of City without Toure since August 17 speaks volumes, as the table below suggests:

All Competitions	No. of Games	Wins	Losses/Draws	Goal Difference
With Toure	24	15	9	23
Without Toure	11	4	7	9

This doesn't bode well for the first leg due to his suspension, but with the towering midfielder now back in their ranks and their plans, their trajectory is set to whip upward quite quickly.

Adding a defensive solidity to the middle of the park, he often helps to anchor the Sky Blues' midfield and will do so once again against Barcelona.

Reflecting back at the goals they conceded during their 2-0 loss against Arsenal, Toure's absence was an unmitigated factor.

It's hard to imagine the Gunners would have had such an easy time navigating past the Ivory Coast captain in the buildup to a number of the chances they created against City's midfield that day.

And the highlights reel below suggests as much.

Toure tends not to dive recklessly into tackles and rarely goes missing.

But that's exactly what his team-mates did in January at home to Arsene Wenger's men. Refusing to engage in rash tackles, he prefers to guard his defence by pushing midfielders out wide or by getting physical with them.

If Toure had been on the pitch that day, he would have unmercifully shut down many of those forages.

It might have resulted in a booking, but his combative nature and mentality as a champion is very often the difference between avoidable concessions and much-needed clean sheets.

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And with Xavi Hernandez, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets looking to send City packing for the second consecutive year, Toure's return for the second leg should see their game plan struggle.

Yaya knows how to deal with Barcelona

A former player with the Blaugrana, the box-to-box midfielder has a positive rapport with the club, but that's never impeded him from being a thorn in their side.

Last season both sides met at the same stage, with Barcelona going through on an aggregate score of 4-1. 

But that fails to tell the whole story.

A much tighter affair than the results suggested, two late goals induced by Barcelona's class and a penalty that saw Martin Demichelis dismissed meant that City were rather unlucky not to go through.

Indeed, a more forensic examination of the home tie shows that Toure holds the key to stifling Enrique's charges, as the highlights package below reveals. 

Positionally aware and full of running, the Ivorian international spread the play exceptionally well, drove at the Barca rearguard with purpose and aimed to set up a number of meaningful attacks in addition to shutting down their attack.

Indeed, the ex-Monaco man's presence in the middle of the park on both nights bestowed confidence on the current English champions to give it their best shot.

And The Citizens will look to him as the fulcrum of their setup once more. This time, however, he'll ensure the end result is in their favour.

Toure can bag important goals

Statistically, Europe's elite club competition might not be City's most enjoyable one, but with a clean slate in the knockout phase they will look to start creating a new legacy in the coming weeks.  

Reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history would be a massive step in that direction.

And, as Toure's AFCON performances most recently suggested, his goals can win silverware.

Need proof?

Just take a look at his game-winning strike against DR Congo in the semi-final:

A bullet strike out of absolutely nowhere, he blasted his country into the final, which they eventually won.

Taking in his strike again touches on the fantastic awareness the player possesses.

Pouncing on the chance with unrivalled alertness, he was quickest of all to snatch the opportunity, which will be a real weapon against the La Liga outfit.

After all, big matches like their upcoming European joust, are very often decided by snapshot moments of genius—or indeed, madness. 

With just one Champions League goal this season, he is far from City's main source of goals—an accolade Sergio Aguero owns without question. And although the man himself doesn't regard goalscoring as his main concern, per the Mirror's David Anderson, he remains a real threat, especially from outside the 18-yard box.

Conclusion

It's no surprise that The Citizens are not the same team when Toure is unavailable for selection. Not even a fantastically impressive 4-1 team win over Stoke City in the Premier League can eradicate that perception.

And when he takes to the field in Spain in March, expect Toure to be an instrumental cog in City's success.

In the process, the muscular midfielder will eradicate any doubts about his commitment to the club as they march forth into uncharted territory.

And don't be at all surprised to see Pellegrini's general push himself and his team-mates to an unlikely away win at the fortress that is the Camp Nou.