After missing out on a chance to qualify for the round of 16 through their disastrous performance against Manchester City in the last Champions League fixture at the Etihad Stadium, Barcelona will be very hopeful to cross the line this week when they visit Celtic.
Both the team will be wary of their previous meeting when Barcelona ran a 7-0 riot over the Glasgow club. It is only obvious that Barcelona will be full of conviction of recording a win there although a draw will be enough to send them to the next round if Borussia Monchengladbach beats Manchester City in the other group fixture.
After losing to Gladbach at home, Celtic did very well to hold the German team in their own backyard, which was an early positive sign. But Celtic have not won any of their last six home group fixtures in the UEFA Champions League/UEFA Europa League.
Barcelona will have their own injury concerns that have already made the team toothless as they missed yet another chance to close up the gap with Real Madrid in the weekend.
Defence
Barcelona’s defence saw a huge boost when Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba returned from injuries against Malaga, which will finally give a balanced back line to Enrique. He had been struggling desperately with his makeshift defence for the past few weeks but Barca surprisingly scraped through those matches quite unlike the last match against Malaga.
With Samuel Umititi also back in training, we expect Pique and Umtiti to start in the middle. Jordi Alba will take his place in the right while Lucas Digne will continue to ply his trade on the left flank. Although Jeremy Mathieu is also back in training, he is not expected to start so soon.
Midfielder
Umtiti’s return will finally allow Enrique to put Javier Mascherano up front in the defensive midfield relieving Sergio Busquets of many burdens. Although Ivan Rakitic is having a huge risk of suspension, Enrique is expected to go all out knowing well that this match could ensure their qualification to the next round.
Rafinha will be starting with the Croat in the midfield as they both have clicked well at times this season.
Attack
With Luis Suarez missing out on the La Liga match in the weekend, he will lead the attack surely. Missing out on Lionel Messi has left a huge gap on the right flank and Arda Turan hasn’t done much justice to that position in the last game. Neymar is in a similar situation like Rakitic, on a verge of suspension after seeing yellow cards, but is expected to finish the qualification job at hand first.
