Vincent Kompany: Bring on Barcelona

Manchester City 5 Newcastle United 0: THE prospect of facing mighty Barcelona - Messi, Neymar, Suarez et al - will presumably offer Manchester City more concern than this perfunctory five-goal thrashing of Newcastle but so schizophrenic are the mood swings at the Etihad Stadium these days that captain Vincent Kompany is relishing the prospect.

A disastrous January, which featured one league victory and a home FA Cup exit to Middlesbrough, has made way for a month in which Kompany’s side has cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table to five points and scored nine goals in their last two victories.

This latest win had been preceded by a 4-1 victory at Stoke who, to hear Kompany explain it, are a team more to be feared than City’s next opponents, at the Etihad in the Champions League last 16 first leg tie tomorrow.