Chelsea vs Barcelona
Tuesday night in the Champions League brings a classic encounter: Chelsea vs Barcelona.
The sides have had plenty of ding-dong battles down the years, however Barcelona are the firm favourites to progress this time around.
Barcelona claimed another three points on their road to the Spanish title on Saturday beating Eibar 2-0.
While Valencia are theoretically in striking distance of Barca, it’s highly unlikely the Catalans balls this up.
That means they can focus all their attentions on the UCL.
‘Paulinho looking send Tottenham a message vs Chelsea’
On Saturday, following the Eibar game, Spanish paper Marca have predicted how Barcelona will line up against Chelsea.
Marca headline their article “Paulinho is the chosen one for Stamford Bridge”.
Prior to arriving at the Camp Nou, Paulinho had played in the Premier League for Tottenham.
But Paulinho never really made it at Spurs, and Marca reference Tottenham when they reported:
As Barcelona head to London to play Chelsea in the Champions League, Paulinho’s big moment has arrived, back in the town where he endured the toughest moments of his career.
Playing a defensive role, powerful in the air and experienced, he is the ideal choice.
Barcelona’s predicted line-up vs Chelsea
When it comes to predicting how Barcelona will play against Chelsea, Marca believe it will be the same XI that started against Eibar.
That team reads: Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba, Busquets, Rakitić, Paulinho, Iniesta, Messi, Suárez.
Should that prove to be the XI, there’s no room for Ousmane Dembele.
Bought for more than 100 million euros after Neymar left for PSG, Dembele has struggled for game time this season amid a couple of injuries.
For the record, Philippe Coutinho cannot play for Barca in the Champions League as he already played for Liverpool in the UCL.
Eibar 0 – Barcelona 2: Team sheets
Also see: Insane Barcelona stats emerges after Eibar win: Are La Liga helping the Catalans?
Andres Iniesta set to leave Barcelona for this club in the summer.
