Celtic vs Barcelona
UEFA Champions League – Group C
Date: Wednesday, 23rd November 2016.
Kick-off at 19:45 UK.
Venue: Celtic Park, Glasgow.
Celtic’s Champions League dreams are almost over. They need to win both of their remaining games, and for Manchester City to lose both of theirs, and for Borussia Monchengladbach to lose one of theirs to stand a chance of qualification to the knockout stages. However, the 3rd place spot to take them to the Europa League knockout stages is still up for grabs.
In all honesty they were never expected to make it through such a tough group, and they have shown some steel with a home draw against Manchester City and a draw away to Monchengladbach, which went some way to making up for their ridiculous 7-0 thrashing at the Camp Nou in their group stage opener.
Defensively they have improved dramatically since then, and their 1-0 win over Kilmarnock on Friday made it five clean sheets from their last six games in all competitions. They are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Champions League though, and I don’t expect that to change on Wednesday.
Barcelona may not be in the best of form right now, but they are still an incredibly talented team who are hoping to tie up the top spot in the group with a win here. They currently have nine points, two more than 2nd placed Manchester City.
The weekend saw them draw 0-0 at home to Malaga though, with an attack missing Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez failing to break down a stubborn visiting side. Suarez is expected to be missing again through injury on Wednesday, but Messi should return after his rest, which isn’t good news for Celtic.
Offensively Barcelona are undoubtedly a huge force, and they have only failed to score twice in their last 26 competitive games. The chances of Celtic’s clean sheet record improving on Wednesday are incredibly slim.
Defensively it’s a different matter for Barcelona though. They have conceded in eight of their last 13, including four of their last six. Away from home they’ve kept just one clean sheet in their last seven, but have managed to score in all of them.
Celtic have only failed to score in one of their 12 home games this term as well, so both teams finding the net looks a high probability on Wednesday. Barcelona have also seen at least three goals in each of their last seven away days, so this could be a high scoring one. We’re backing Both Teams to Score at excellent value odds of 10/11 though along with 2-1 correct score prediction at 7/1 as well.
As far as goalscoring predictions go I think backing Moussa Dembele to find the net is a good option. The young striker has netted 12 goals in all competitions this season, including five in the Champions League. On the Barcelona side of things it has to be Lionel Messi, with the Argentinian having scored 15 goals in 12 appearances in all competitions and seven in three in the Champions League.
Celtic vs Barcelona: Head-to-head stats
Barcelona lead the head-to-head against Celtic with 7 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats from 11 matches between them so far.
Both Celtic wins have come at Glasgow, the latest a shock 2-1 win during the group phase of 2012/13 Champions League.
This is Barcelona’s sixth visit to Glasgow, they have won in 3 of the previous 5.
Celtic vs Barcelona: Prediction
There is no doubt that Celtic are a better team at home but they are still an inconsistent team. One thing we can point out is that they will not suffer a heavy defeat against big sides in front of their home fans. They have lost 2 and won once in the last three home matches against Barcelona, with the defeats coming only by a 1 goal margin.
Considering Barcelona’s injury crisis and Celtic’s capability to surprise big teams it will be beneficial to opt for a handicap +2 goals in favour of the home side.
Celtic vs Barcelona: Bet Tips
The following Odds are provided by .
Handicap: Celtic to win with +2 goals to start with at 2.00 (1/1).
