FC Barcelona host Celtic FC in the Champions League
Barcelona have an exciting match against the Scottish champions as their first game of the Champions League group stages.
Form
The Catalans go in to this fixture on the back of a shock 2-1 loss to Alavés. Losses have been rare under Luis Enrique with only 14 in the 127 games* he has managed which is impressive. This game was definitely in the back of his mind when picking the squad for the Alavés game, so expect a much stronger showing here. Aside from the loss, Barcelona have won the rest of their games this season which includes the 5-0 aggregate win in the Spanish Super Cup as well as the 2 wins in the league.
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Squads
The only major injury for Barcelona is André Gomes who picked up a foot injury on international duty. Marc-André ter Stegen returned to training on Monday after missing the Alavés game, and he is in the squad so he could return. This gives Enrique the chance to play a full strength team for the match, so there should be no excuses. Celtic’s main striker Leigh Griffiths has a muscle injury, but Moussa Dembélé certainly stepped up to the plate against Rangers. He scored a hat-trick in the Old Firm derby which was only his second league start for Celtic. Gary Mackay-Steven is the only other injury concern with an ankle injury. This means that Brendan Rodgers is also able to field a strong team, so it should be an entertaining match.
Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images
History
More from Everything Barca9/13 - FC Barcelona host Celtic FC in the Champions League9/13 - ter Stegen Fit to Face Celtic9/12 - Barcelona: Overreaction Monday9/12 - 3 Things We Learned: FC Barcelona vs. Deportivo Alavés9/12 - 3 Things We Learned in the International Break
Recent history is packed with meeting between these 2 teams. Just over a month ago they played against each other in the International Champions Cup with Barça winning 3-1 although neither team was full strength. Prior to that, they played each other 4 times between 2012 and 2013 in the Champions League group stages. Barcelona came out winners 3 times with an aggregate scoreline of 9-2 which included Neymar’s first hat-trick for Barça. However, Celtic famously won 2-1 at Celtic Park in 2012 with only 34% possession, and were completely dominated by Barça. Another interesting subplot is that Luis Suárez and Brendan Rodgers were together at Liverpool when they nearly won the 2013/14 Premier League.
*Stats according to Transfermarkt
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