Barcelona will be aiming to bounce back from their first La Liga defeat of the season when they resume their Champions League campaign at home to Swiss outfit Young Boys on Tuesday night.
The Catalan giants suffered a 2-1 defeat to Monaco in their opening match of the competition earlier this month, while Young Boys were beaten 3-0 at home by Premier League side Aston Villa.
Match preview
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Barcelona made a stunning start to their 2024-25 La Liga campaign, posting seven straight wins, but their 100% record came to an end on Saturday evening, as they suffered a 4-2 defeat to Osasuna.
It was a second loss of the season for Hansi Flick's side, as they were also beaten 2-1 by Monaco in their Champions League opener, but the La Liga outfit had Eric Garcia sent off in the first half of that contest.
There is pressure on Barcelona to bounce back on Tuesday night, but a severe injury crisis means that the team will once again be missing a number of key players, and Flick deserves huge praise for the start that he has enjoyed considering the issues that he has faced.
The La Liga outfit reached the quarter-finals of last season's Champions League, but they were incredibly eliminated in the group stage of 2022-23 and 2021-22.
Barcelona have not been in a European Cup semi-final since 2018-19, while their last success in the competition came back in 2014-15, which is too long for a club of their ilk.
The Catalan team face a potentially-tricky La Liga game against Alaves next weekend, but they simply cannot afford to switch their focus away from the Champions League.
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Young Boys struggled in their competition opener against Aston Villa on September 17, suffering a 3-0 defeat, and they now have a very difficult assignment away to Barcelona.
The reigning Swiss champions will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 loss to Grasshoppers on Saturday, with the result leaving them down in 11th spot in their domestic table, collecting only six points from eight matches, and there is no getting away from the fact that it has been a very tough start.
Young Boys also competed in the group stage of last season's Champions League, finishing third in their section, which saw them drop into the Europa League knockout round playoffs, but they were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon.
The Swiss side have never managed to progress past the group stage of the Champions League, and it will be a big ask for them to make a serious impression in this competition, especially as a very difficult third match in the league stage will see them welcome Italian giants Inter Milan.
Patrick Rahmen's side can take heart from Barcelona's fitness problems, though, and they have already picked up two big results in the competition this term, beating Galatasaray home and away in the playoff round.
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Team News
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Barcelona's absentee list is substantial, with Eric Garcia being added to that, as the Spaniard is suspended due to the red card that he picked up against Monaco in the team's last Champions League fixture.
There are seven further players unavailable through injury, with Fermin Lopez, Dani Olmo, Marc Bernal, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo, Gavi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen all out.
Frenkie de Jong has not made a single appearance this season due to an ankle problem, but the Dutchman has a slight chance of being included in the squad for this match.
There will be changes from the side that started against Osasuna in the league, with Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casado and Inigo Martinez all set to be introduced.
As for Young Boys, Saidy Janko, Patric Pfeiffer and Facinet Conte are out of the match, but the Swiss outfit are otherwise in good shape in terms of their squad for this European fixture.
Joel Monteiro has been the team's standout player this season, scoring five goals and registering seven assists in 13 appearances in all competitions, and he is a certain starter for the visitors here.
Silvere Ganvoula has four in all competitions in 2024-25, meanwhile, and he could again lead the line, with Cedric Itten potentially being kept in reserve despite the fact that he has managed five goals this season.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, I Martinez, Balde; Casado, Torre, Pedri; Lamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha
Young Boys possible starting lineup:
Van Ballmoos; Athekame, Camara, Zoukrou, Hadjam; Niasse, Lauper; Monteiro, Ugrinic, Colley; Ganvoula
We say: Barcelona 2-0 Young Boys
Young Boys are certainly capable of making this a tricky match for a Barcelona team that will have a number of absentees. We are struggling to see a scenario which involves the visitors picking up a positive result, though, with Barcelona likely to have too much for their Swiss opponents on Tuesday night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
