UCL PREVIEW: BARCELONA VS VIKTORIA PLZEN

INTRODUCTION

  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.

LA LIGA PREVIEW: SEVILLA VS BARCELONA

INTRODUCTION

  A somewhat high flying Barcelona travel to the Estádio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to do battle with an off colour Sevilla on Matchday 4 in La Liga.

  The Catalans have earned 7 points out of a possible 9 so far, winning their last two games in typical Barcelona fashion. With the transfer window finally shut, Barça begin a brutal schedule with one of the toughest away games of the season.

  The season has not began for Sevilla as well as they'd have hoped, drawing one and losing two. This is largely due to their defensive frailties after losing the formidable pair of Koundé (to Barcelona) and Carlos (to Aston Villa). That being said, they can and should never be taken for granted. It's expected that they'll create some fireworks against Barcelona in Andalusia.

INTERESTING STATS

 Considering the Sevilla of recent years is one of the strongest ever, Barça have had some extraordinarily good results against them.

 They have only lost three times to the Andalusians in their last 35 meetings across all competitions.

 In La Liga, Barça have now gone for 13 games without losing to Sevilla either at home or away. The Catalans have won three of the last six league games at the Sánchez Pizjuán, and the other three games ended in draws.

LAST TEN MEETINGS

03/04/22 (LIGA) Barça 1 Sevilla 0

21/12/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 1 Barça 1

03/03/21 (C DEL REY) Barça 3 Sevilla 0

27/02/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 2

10/02/21 (C DEL REY) Sevilla 2 Barça 0

04/10/20 (LIGA) Barça 1 (Coutinho) Sevilla 1

19/06/20 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 0

06/10/19 (LIGA) Barça 4 (Suárez, Vidal, Dembélé, Messi) Sevilla 0

23/02/19 (LIGA) Sevilla 2 Barça 4 (Messi 3, Suárez)

30/01/19 (C DEL REY) Barça 6 Coutinho 2, Rakitic, S Roberto, Suárez, Messi) Sevilla 1

TEAM NEWS

  Xavi has a very strong squad to call upon for this fixture. 

  Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso, having joined on deadline day, will not be part of the squad. Andreas Christensen had recovered from illness and will be available for selection. With the Champions League opener against Viktoria Plzen on the horizon, Xavi might be tempted to rotate.

  Sevilla will be without Marcao, Jesus Corona and Karim Rekik due to injuries. New signing Adrian Januzaj has also been left out. Marcos Acuna will be available for selection after returning from Suspension and is expect to unseat Alex Telles as LB.

  New signings Isco and Kasper Dolberg are expect to make am appearance at some point in the game. Former Barcelona man Ivan Rakitic is expect to command their midfield. Lucas Ocampos will have no part to play in this fixture as his move to Ajax has been confirmed.

  It's not going to get any easier for Sevilla as they will be expecting Manchester City in a few days time for their Champions League opener.

Where are Sevilla vs Barcelona playing?

Location: Seville, Spain

Stadium: Estádio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán 

Date: Saturday 3 September

Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST

VAR: Gil Manzano

Referee: Mateu Lahoz

CONCLUSION

  Sevilla are not in the best form coming into this game and with the clash against Manchester City looking over their shoulders, they'll be under immense pressure to get this one right. As such, they shouldn't be taken for granted. Ever.

  FC Barcelona however, will be ready to pile on the misery on the Seville outfit. This is a chance for a vibrant Barcelona attack to pounce and wreak havoc at the Pizjuán. 

  Playing in Seville is never easy, but now's a good a time as any to do so. Barcelona have so much talent, and we are expecting Xavi's side to make it three straight wins in relatively comfortable fashion considering the difficulty of the match. 

LFG 🔵🔴⚽🏟️