Barcelona welcome the reigning Czech champions to the Spotify Camp Nou for their first game of the Champions League season.
It was a disastrous showing the last time out for the Catalans, scoring only two goals in the group stages (Fati and Pique v Dynamo Kyiv), while conceding nine and having to face the shame of dropping to the Europa League, where they bowed out in the QFs against Eintracht Frankurt.
The club however, was able to give the squad a facelift more or less over the summer, including bringing in the ever clinical Robert Lewandowski. As such, no one should think of Barcelona as Shrinking Violets this time around.
Looking forward, they'll aim to get their campaign on a bright note as wins against the Czech outfit could prove crucial in the famed 'Group of Death'.
Viktoria Plzen qualified for this seaon's edition of the Champions League by going unbeaten all their matches in the qualifying rounds. The club has participated in five seasons of UEFA club competitions, including two seasons in the UCL, three seasons in the UEFA Cup and UEL and one season in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. They've played 42 UEFA matches, resulting in 24 wins, 6 draws and 12 defeats.
They're the reigning champions of the Czech first League. They've been unbeaten in their last 13 games in all competitions (10W, 3D), their last defeat occuring in July. Nevertheless, they'll be going into this competition as massive Underdogs.
INTERESTING STATS
This will be the second time both clubs are facing each other in the group stages of the competition and the 3rd (and subsequently 4th) time overall.
Barcelona emerged victorious over both legs when they met in the 11/12 season, winning 6-0 on aggregate.
LAST TWO MEETINGS
19/10/11 - Barcelona 2-0 Viktoria Plzen
( Iniesta, Villa)
1/11/11 - Viktoria Plzen 0-4 Barcelona
(Messi x3, Fabregas)
TEAM NEWS
Barcelona have a fully fit squad to choose from. Xavi is so spoilt for choice that it's believed that he'll rotate considerably, keeping upcoming games against Cadiz, Bayern Munich and Elche in mind.
Garcia, Gavi and Dembele, who all played key roles in the victory againt Sevilla a few days ago, are rumored to make way for Christensen, DeJong and Torres. Alba, Pique, Memphis, Kessie and of course Fati could also get sizeable minutes.
As for Plzen, Petr Pejsa is a long-term absentee due to knee injury, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape. Plzen often line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and that should again be the case for this match, with Jan Sykora, who scored in their 1-0 away win on Saturday in the league, set to feature as the number 10.
Where are Barcelona vs Viktoria Plzen playing?
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Stadium: Spotify Camp Nou
Date: Wednesday, 7 September
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST
VAR: Benoît Millot
Referee: Lawrence Visser
CONCLUSION
Barcelona is still a work in progress, but they've shown massive improvement over their first 4 domestic games, scoring 11 and conceding 1.
Viktoria Plzen were outdone by the best Barcelona side in history over a decade ago and will need nothing short of a miracle to get something out of this game.
Barcelona are the far better team on paper and are expected to cart away with a comfortable victory.
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