Barcelona enters Tuesday's game having a tremendous season and with a strong chance to solidify their position in Group G.
Their UCL play has been far from brilliant as they had a shaky 3-2 win over Spartak Moscow before having a stronger 2-0 win over Benfica. In the former, they lost Gerard Pique, while the latter match saw the loss of Carles Puyol. The defense has been poor since with Javier Mascherano being the main culprit. Despite the poor defense, Barcelona has continued to look unbeatable thanks to a growing combination of players: Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas. Messi has always been a tremendous threat and with 11 goals and 4 assists, he continues to establish himself as the best player in La Liga. His two goals in the Champions League only add to his supremacy. But Fabregas has been a huge key to Barcelona's surging offense. Once questioned for his lack of production and seeming inability to assert his creativity, Fabregas has been a weapon of late with 2 goals ad 5 assists (he leads the team in the latter). He had 3 assists in the match against Deportivo La Coruña and has been progressively better in every match for Barcelona.
Their opponents were able to pull off an upset of Spartak Moscow as the Russian teams continued to underwhelm in this year's UCL. The current leaders of the Scottish Premier League have won 6 of nine games and have a three point lead in first place. Victor Wanyama leads the team with 4 goals while Adam Matthews leads the league with 5 assists. In the UCL, Celtic opened with a 0-0 draw to Benfica before the strong 3-2 win over the Russian squad. Playing on the road against Barca will be a challenge, especially when this team knows they will not control possession for much of the game. However, they can rest assured that one counter attack could put them ahead with Barcelona's crippled defense being porous over the last few weeks.
Prediction: Barcelona is still the cream of the group despite the poor defense. With Messi at the top of his game, this team should undoubtedly win and Messi should be the catalyst. 3-2 Barcelona.
Start Time: 2:45 p.m. EDT
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
