Barcelona Have Learned from UCL Exit vs. Roma Last Season, Says Ernesto Valverde

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde says the team have learned their lesson following last season's UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of Roma, ahead of their last-16 tie with Lyon on Tuesday. 

The Blaugrana went out of the quarter-finals on away goals last season. Having won 4-1 at the Camp Nou before losing 3-0 in Rome, it is an experience Valverde is eager not to repeat.

Per Goal's Guy Atkinson, he said:

"The learning of Rome is that you should not let your guard down. In the first leg, you need to have a high guard—we will take this into account. 

"When we played Roma everyone said they were a weak opponent, which did not help us.

"We are eager to play because we've been waiting for the game for a while, and we're under pressure because we know the enthusiasm of our fans."

Barca will play away in the first leg of this tie before hosting their opponents for the return leg on March 13. While the Catalan giants are the favourites to triumph, there is no room for complacency against Lyon.

The Ligue 1 side beat Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium—one of only two home defeats the Sky Blues have suffered in any competition this season—and held them to a 2-2 draw in France during the group stage.

In January, they beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 at the Stade de Lyon to become the only side to beat the Parisians in Ligue 1 this season.

What's more, Barcelona do not enter the tie in convincing form.

They ended a run of three consecutive draws in all competitions when they beat Real Valladolid 1-0 on Saturday, but as ESPN FC's Samuel Marsden and Ben Hayward of the Evening Standard noted, it was not a particularly inspiring performance:

Against a side that seems to relish playing against more difficult opponents, Barca could easily find themselves on the end of an upset if they're not up to standard.

The Blaugrana have exited the Champions League at the quarter-final stage in the last three seasons and been forced to watch Real Madrid go on to lift the trophy on each occasion.

At the very least they'll want to go further in it this year, but in Lyon they face a tough challenge just to reach the last eight again.

Having the second leg at home will perhaps help, but to make the most of it they need to begin the tie with a strong result in France.