Barcelona: Barcelona would aim to finish at the top of Group G and walk into the round of 16 as they host Juventus in a Champions League encounter at Camp Nou on Wednesday (December 9).
Both the sides have already qualified for the next round. While Barca have a three-point lead over second-placed Juventus owing to their win in the first leg, the Old Lady have serious work to do if they are to snatch the first position from Ronald Koeman’s side. To ensure the top spot they have to win by a margin of three goals or more.
Koeman’s side have recorded wins on all the matches played till now in the group stage. They won at home against Ferencvaros and Dynamo Kiev, and also recorded a 2-0 victory away to Juventus, then a 4-0 success against Dynamo on November 24 and 3-0 against Ferencvaros last week.
But in La Liga, it has been a different story, where they have picked up just 14 points from 10 matches to languish at seventh. Koeman’s side lost 1-2 at Cadiz on Sunday (December 6). Since the 2016-17 season, Barcelona have won 19 of their 25 group stage matches and are unbeaten in their last 38 home matches in the European competition.
Also, Andrea Pirlo’s side have been not been their best in Serie A this season, though as they picked up just 20 points from their 10 matches and now sit third in the table behind AC Milan and Inter Milan.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed out on the chance to face Barca in the first leg due to a positive coronavirus test, is expected to play the second leg. It is the first time Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be facing off since the latter left Real Madrid.
Head To Head
The clash on Wednesday will be the 13th meeting between the two sides, and Barca have won five matches to Juve’s three wins, with the other three matches being drawn.
The last time Barca hosted Juventus in Camp Nou, they won 3-0 in September 2017, while Juve have failed to record an away victory against the Catalan giants since the quarter-finals of the 2002-03 competition.
The 2015 Champions League final, was the most high-profile meeting between the two teams as it ended in a 3-1 Barca victory courtesy of goals from Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez and Neymar. Barca won their second treble that year.
Form
Barcelona (CL): LWWWWW
Barcelona (all competitions): WLWWWL
Juventus (CL): WWLWWW
Juventus (all competitions): DWWDWW
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Marc-André ter Stegen, Sergino Dest, Araujo, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Pjanic, De Jong, Pedri, Lionel Messi, Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Sandro; Kulusevski, Rabiot, Bentancur, Chiesa; Alvaro Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo.
