Ernesto Valverde Warns Barcelona Against Complacency vs. 'Very Dangerous' Lyon

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has warned his side not to fall victim to complacency when they meet Lyon in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

Barca drew the French side on Monday and will take them on at the Stade de Lyon on February 19, followed by the return leg at the Camp Nou on March 13.

Per Goal's Matt Dorman, Valverde told Barca TV that while he knows relatively little about Lyon, he is anticipating a difficult match:

"The truth is that I have seen little. I have a general idea, there are some players that we know, but we have to prepare well.

"It's a team that was challenging [Manchester] City for leadership of the group until the last game and won at their ground. That shows the difficulty to win any game. Not only for us, but for any team.

"I have the sense they are a very dangerous team in space because they break very well, very fast, and we have to be a little careful.

"We can't afford to be complacent. We have two months to refine ourselves a bit more, to study the opponents more and get to the tie in good shape."

The draw could have been worse for Barcelona as they could have drawn Liverpool, Roma—who knocked them out at the quarter-final stage last season—or Manchester United, though they may have preferred Ajax or Schalke to Lyon.

The Ligue 1 side claimed four points from two matches with City in their group, including an unlikely win at the Etihad Stadium. In the Premier League this season, nine teams have visited the Etihad and none have come away with so much as a point.

Grup 14's Rafael Hernandez expects Lyon to adopt the same approach against Barcelona, while ESPN's Matteo Bonetti is eagerly awaiting the tie:

As part of his preparations for Lyon, Valverde may wish to pick the brain of Lyon native and former star Samuel Umtiti. The Barca centre-back left his hometown club in 2016, but manager Bruno Genesio is still the man in charge so he may be able to offer some insight into their setup.

Barca's attackers should be more than capable of scoring against Lyon, who conceded 11 goals in the group stage, the most of any side to progress to the knockout phase.

The Blaugrana aren't the most reliable team at the back themselves, though. While they shipped just five in a group comprised of Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven, they've conceded 19 in 16 La Liga matches—so the likes of Nabil Fekir and Memphis Depay could equally find some joy.

Barcelona should still be capable of progressing, but Lyon will feel confident after their result against City and could cause an upset if the Catalan giants aren't at their best.