Barcelona vs FC Porto: Champions League Match Preview, Team News, Lineups and Prediction
Barcelona will face FC Porto in matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys this Tuesday. Barcelona are currently at the top of Group H, level on nine points with second-placed Porto.
The Catalan giants suffered a 1-0 defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday 3. Whereas Porto defeated Royal Antwerp 2-0 to go level on points with Barca.
Match Preview
Barcelona could have secured their place in the Champions League knockout stages if they had managed to overcome Shakhtar. But that loss against the Ukrainian side means that La Liga champions are now under pressure.
Nonetheless, Xavi’s side remains on top of Group H with nine points, Porto in second with the same points and Shakthar in third with six points.
Barcelna are coming in this game after a 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga. With this draw, they now sit in fourth place in the league. Moreover, they have only won two of their last five matches in all competitions.
Barca have not qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League in the past two years. So, there will be pressure on Xavi to win this match to secure qualification in the next round.
FC Porto have been really strong in the Champions League this season as they have won three matches and have lost just one to sit second in the group.
A win against Barcelona would see them advance to the knockout round of the competition if Shakhtar draw or lose to Antwerp.
Sergio Conceicao’s side will enter this match after three straight wins in all competitions, including a 2-1 success over Vitoria Guimaraes in the league.
Porto lost the reverse fixture against Barcelona when Ferran Torres scored the only goal of the game.
Barcelona team news
Marc-Andre ter Stegen missed the Rayo Vallecano match due to a back issue, and he is not back in training, so he is expected to miss this clash.
Gavi is also out for the rest of the campaign with an ACL injury, but captain Sergi Roberto will be back for this clash.
Xavi is expected to start his strongest XI in this midweek clash, so Joao Felix, Ilkay Gundogan, Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde and Raphinha all are expected to start this game.
FC Porto team news
Samuel Portugal, Ivan Marcano, Gabriel Veron and Ivan Jaime will all miss the clash against Barcelona due to injury this week.
Wendell remains a major doubt due to a muscular problem, and it is thought that he will only make the bench in the best-case scenario.
David Carmo, Pepe Aquino, Mehdi Taremi and Diogo Costa will all return to the starting XI alongside Evanilson, who has scored nine goals in all competitions this season.
Barcelona vs FC Porto: Predicted line-ups
Barcelona (4-3-3): Pena; Cancelo, Araujo, Kounde, Balde; Gundogan, De Jong, Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Felix
FC Porto (4-4-2): Costa; Mario, Pepe, Carmo, Sanusi; Galeno, Varela, Eustaquio, Aquino; Evanilson, Taremi
Prediction
Barcelona 2-1 FC Porto
Barcelona are struggling at the moment, and they have not been firing on all cylinders. Furthermore, this talented Porto side already tested them in the reverse fixture. A tough fixture awaits for the La Liga champions, but if they can be clinical in front of goal, they can beat the Portuguese side.
