Preview: Barcelona vs. Spartak Moscow

Unai Emery has never been able to record a victory over Barcelona during his management career.

The current Spartak Moscow coach spent four years with Valencia up until this summer and faced the Catalan outfit on 12 occasions, six of which ended in defeats at the Nou Camp.

On this occasion he is likely to start with one striker against the three-time winners, with Emmanuel Emenike expected to get the nod.

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi is expected to be recalled to the Barcelona starting lineup, having started Saturday's 4-1 win over Getafe on the bench.

David Villa, also benched against Getafe, could also be in line for a start against the Russians.

Skipper Carles Puyol limped out of the weekend's win and is expected to miss out. Former Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano should fill in for the Spanish international.

Recent form:

Barcelona: WWLWW
Spartak: DLDLW

Possible lineups:

Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano; Xavi, Busquets, Fabregas; Pedro, Messi, Villa

Spartak: Dikan; D Kombarov, Insaurralde, Suchy, K Kombarov; Romulo, Kallstrom; McGeady, Ari, Bilyaletdinov; Emenike

Sports Mole says: 3-1

Written by
Liam Apicella

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