Barcelona travels to the Czech Republic to face Slavia Prague on matchday seven of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night, in a very important match for Hansi Flick’s team, which is looking to avoid falling in the league phase.
Barcelona is currently in 15th place in the league phase, with 10 points from six games so far. So far they have won three, drawn one and lost two of their matches. Their victories have come against Newcastle United, Olympiacos and Eintracht Frankfurt, the draw against Club Brugge and the two defeats against PSG and Chelsea.
The LaLiga leaders also need to bounce back from a poor home result over the weekend, losing 2-1 at Real Sociedad in a controversial fixture, which reduced their lead at the top of the league to just one point.
Slavia Prague are yet to win in the Champions League this season and will be looking for a famous night in front of their home fans. They have not played a competitive match since their 4-3 home win against Jablonec on December 13, while the Czech league took its winter break. Slavia have played three friendlies in recent weeks as they try to get fit for this match.
How to watch:
The match will be broadcast on TNT Sports 6 in the UK, Paramount+ in the US, SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow live updates from ESPN.
Key details:
Start time: Wednesday, January 21 at 8 pm GMT (3 pm ET; 1:30 am IST, Thursday and 6 am AEST, Thursday)
Event: Eden Arena, Prague
Referee: Chirag Kavanagh [England]
VAR: Stuart Atwell [England]
Injury and team news:
Slavia Prague
Dominik Javorcek, D: knee, OUTSIDE, Estimated return in mid-February
Filip Horsky, F: anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), OUTSIDE, estimated return at the end of January
Petr Sevcik, M: knee, OUTSIDE, estimated return at the end of January
Barcelona
Andreas Christensen, D: LCA, OUTSIDE, est. unknown return
Gavi, M: Mensicus, OUTSIDE, estimated return in early February
Talking points:
Great opportunity for Barcelona to respond to Sociedad’s defeat
There will be an intimidating atmosphere in Prague, but it is an ideal opportunity for Barcelona to right the wrongs that plagued their defeat to Real Sociedad on Sunday. It’s not a loss Flick should panic about. Barça had won 11 in a row before that, so a little problem away from home is to be expected.
However, they need to make a statement in Prague on Wednesday, to ensure that the issue does not become major concerns. Slavia have struggled all season in Europe, and Barça have been quite efficient at defeating teams of that stature, as exemplified by their 6-1 victory over Olympiacos in October.
The firepower that Barcelona have in attack must come to the fore, with the excellent Pedri pulling the strings behind them. It is also a chance for players like João Cancelo and Robert Lewandowski to show Flick why they should start.
Slavia’s European problems this season
The Czech team has not scored in five Champions League games since that 2-2 draw in the season opener against Bodo/Glimt. They have suffered comfortable defeats against Arsenal, Internazionale and Tottenham Hotspur, while only managing goalless draws against Athletic Club and Atalanta.
Barcelona have kept six clean sheets in their last eight games, so Slavia’s attacking problems in European competition only seem to get worse.
For Mojmír Chytil, Lukás Provod, Youssoupha Sanyang and company. The ever-present prospect of Barca’s high defensive line may seem a tempting proposition, but they need to be precise to exploit it, and they have yet to show much evidence of being able to do so against the European heavyweights so far this season.
Barcelona seeks to get closer to the top eight
For a team that finished second in the league stage last season, Barcelona have not had things as easy this season. They sit 15th and know that anything short of a win against Slavia could mean the end of their hopes of finishing in the top eight, who will avoid having to play a playoff tie to reach the round of 16 of the competition.
As things stand, Atlético Madrid are eighth, two points ahead of Barça. Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham, who occupy places nine to eleven, all have 11 points, one more than Barça.
If Barça don’t beat Slavia, then they might have to spend the final day of next week analyzing other results they would need to finish in the top eight. That’s not a situation they would like to get into.
Who starts at the top in Barcelona?
Spaniard Ferran Torres has had an excellent season with Barcelona so far, having already scored 15 goals in 27 appearances so far this season. However, since a hat-trick against Real Betis in early December, Torres has only scored two goals in seven games, and one of those came against lower division side Racing Santander in the Copa del Rey.
In Barcelona’s last eight games, Lewandowski has only started one: it was the Super Cup final against Real Madrid, in which he scored. He also scored a goal in a substitute appearance in the Catalan derby earlier this month, which Barcelona won 2-0 against Espanyol.
Obviously, at his age, Lewandowski’s minutes need to be managed to ensure he is available to contribute at the most opportune moments. However, in such an important match, in which Torres is not at his best, it could be time for Flick to bet on the experienced Pole.
What do the numbers say?
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last eight games against Czech opponents, winning seven and drawing one. They have faced Slavia twice before, in the group stage of the 2019-20 Champions League. Barcelona won 2-1 in Prague, before drawing goalless in Spain.
However, Barcelona have only won one of their last five Champions League games away from home. They have lost three of those five games and have conceded three or more goals four times in those five games.
Slavia have only won two of their 16 games against Spanish teams. He has also not scored in any of his last five Champions League games this season.
