Preview: Barcelona’s Champions League Group
On the 25th August, Barcelona were drawn into Group C along with Manchester City, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Celtic in the UEFA Champions League group-stage draw.
Barcelona have been handed a challenging group which should bring about some exciting matches due to the caliber of attacking football that the other teams in the group can produce along with Barcelona’s own quality of course.
Currently, Barcelona have no long-term injuries which is great, but the international break could change that. Paco Alcácer has recently joined Barcelona as well which improves the depth of attacking options going in to the tournament.
Fixtures
13th September: Celtic, Camp Nou.
28th September: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Stadion im Borussia-Park.
19th October: Manchester City, Camp Nou.
1st November: Manchester City, City of Manchester Stadium.
23rd November: Celtic, Celtic Park.
6th December: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Camp Nou.
Here is a link to the full fixture list for all the groups.
Opponents
Celtic
Celtic barely made it into the group stages even though they won the first leg 5-2 at home against Hapoel Be’er Sheva with a 2-0 loss in Israel allowing them to just sneak through. Nonetheless, getting to the group stage was a huge achievement for them after missing out over the last few years. Therefore Barcelona should view them warily because they have got nothing to lose especially seen as they are technically the weakest team in the group.
In terms of domestic competitions, Celtic are doing well which will give them confidence for their European meetings. They have a manager who has experience in Europe (Brendan Rodgers) which is always important. The key players to look out for are Patrick Roberts, Leigh Griffiths and Kolo Toure. Roberts is the exciting playmaker for the team, Griffiths provides the goals, and Toure organizes the back-line. Celtic will be a tough side to beat especially when they are at home, but Barcelona have the quality to beat them over both matches.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
An interesting matchup which is significant for Marc-Andre Ter Stegen due to the German team being his boyhood club. Mönchengladbach are an exciting team with their direct counter-attacking style which is a threat to any team. They showed this at the weekend with a 2-1 win over a talented Bayer 04 Leverkusen side which is a strong early season indicator in their challenge for the Bundesliga title.
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They will be a tough opponent for Barcelona due to their style of play not requiring much possession. Barcelona’s defence will be have to be wary because the high line they play suits Mönchengladbach’s attackers. If Gerard Piqué and the other defenders can limit the effectiveness of the pace of attackers such as Raffael and André Hahn then the Catalans should be able to dominate the game. However, Mönchengladbach have a defense which is used to soaking up pressure, so they will be hard to break down. These will be a harder opponent to beat than Celtic, but shouldn’t prove too much for Barcelona.
Manchester City
The hardest opponent in the group, and a significant match in many regards. Pep Guardiola faces the club where he made his name as a manager in a mouth-watering tie between two of the most exciting attacking sides in Europe. Claudio Bravo will also return to play against Barcelona having recently left to join Manchester City.
This is an important match for both sides due to both teams being among the best in Europe. Therefore the two matches are a gauge for either team’s chances in the Champions League this season. Manchester City have had a great start to the season under Pep winning their first three league games. They also had to get through the Champions League play-off round which they did comfortably beating Steaua Bucharest 6-0 on aggregate.
Under Guardiola’s management, Manchester City have already started to implemented the high pressing off the ball as well as ensuring every player is comfortable with the ball in order to play patient organized possession football with creative freedom in the final third which are the cornerstones of Pep’s style of play. This suits Barcelona because they often dominate teams that play in a similar style to them. Guardiola knows this from his time at Bayern Munich when Barcelona beat them in the 2014/15 Champions League semi-finals. Therefore it wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw him deploy some surprising tactical innovations when the two teams play.
Barcelona should be able to win both of these games as long as they contain Manchester City’s attack because the City defense looks like it could crumble under intense pressure which is what Barcelona are experts at doing to teams. Ensuring that David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne don’t have the space to operate will be key for Barcelona. Whereas Bravo will be vital in stopping the M-S-N partnership of Barcelona for Manchester City.
