After a very successful and impressive return from the international break with last Sunday's 5-0 thrashing of local rivals Espanyol, Barcelona
return to action and will make their Champions League season debut
against the team that knocked them out of the European Cup last season.
It was Juventus who handed the Blaugrana a
painful 3-0 aggregate defeat over two quarter-final legs that exposed
all of the defensive problems and lack of attacking creativity that
plagued the Catalans in the final year of Luis Enrique's
reign. After an embarrassing display in Turin, Barça had a good
performance in the second leg but couldn't break down a Juventus defense
that seemed unbreakable - until the Final of course.
Things have changed since the quarter-finals. Luis
Enrique is gone, Ernesto Valverde is in and things look very good with
the new manager. The Blaugrana look stronger defensively and
seem to slowly work towards a return to what made them offensively
unstoppable during the Pep Guardiola Era: short passing, triangles all
over the pitch and constant movement of the attacking pieces to find and
create spaces inside tight defenses. Lionel Messi
is back to a False Nine/Second Striker role under Valverde and is
enjoying a spectacular start to the season, and although that isn't
surprising it seems like Messi is loving the comeback to his old role
under Pep.
The midfield is also a lot more involved in the early stages of Valverde's reign, with players like Sergio Busquets
and Ivan Rakitic starting to regain their form and having major
influence in the attacking movements. The full-backs have liberty to go
forward but are also aware of their defensive duties, and the team looks
more balanced overall. Valverde's coaching prowess is clearly evident
at the moment, and there are plenty of encouraging signs in regards to
what this team will be capable to do in the upcoming months.
There's also the matter of Ousmane Dembélé, who had a
great debut against Espanyol and looks sharp and ready to show his
talents and potential for Barça. The team looks very good right now, but
they'll face the first true test of the season against Juventus and
we'll really get a taste of how good this team actually is in this young
season.
The Bianconeri will miss some key players, but they still have Paulo Dybala
and a talented supporting cast to bring major problems to the hosts on
Tuesday night. This will be tough, but it'll also be fun. After all, the
Champions League is back, and European nights are always fun.
MATCH INFO, TV/STREAMING
Date/Time: Tuesday, September 12, 2017, 8:45pm local time, 7:45pm BST (UK), 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA), 12:15am IST (India, Wednesday)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia
Television: Fox Sports 2 (USA), BT Sport Extra (UK), SuperSport 6 (Nigeria), TSN4 (Canada), SONY TEN 2 (India)
Online streaming: Fox Sports GO, BT Sport Live Streaming (UK), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)
(Listings via LiveSoccerTV)
TEAM NEWS
Paco Alcácer is out with an illness but Sergi Roberto is back in the squad after recovering from a minor knee problem. Denis Suarez
also comes into the squad to boost Valverde's midfield options, but the
team shouldn't look too different from the Espanyol win.
In fact, the only possible change is Ousmane Dembélé in
place of Gerard Deulofeu. It seems like the young Frenchman will be
brought in slowly, but he's made such a great impact in his short spell
on Sunday that it makes sense to test him from the start against a
stronger opponent. Valverde said in his pre-match press conference that
Dembélé is "very close" to starting, so this might be the game where he
gets the nod over Deulofeu.
As for the rest of the team, it should be the same
starting lineup from Sunday. It's still early days in the season so
there's no need to rest anyone, especially when you're facing Juventus.
That's especially true when it comes to Andrés Iniesta, who had his
minutes carefully managed under Luis Enrique (sometimes to a fault) but
has been given plenty of playing time with Valverde. The captain looks
fit and sharp, and with his contract situation still up in the air, no
one will mess with Iniesta and rest him without necessity.
The back four of Nélson Semedo, Gerard Piqué, Samuel Umtiti and Jordi Alba looked strong and organized against Espanyol, and they'll need to be at their best again to deal with Dybala, HiguaÃn, Douglas Costa
and others. Marc-André ter Stegen made a couple of wonderful saves on
Sunday and was very effective with his passing game, and his performance
will also be crucial if Barça want to get a win on Tuesday.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-3-1-2)
Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi; Deulofeu, Suárez
Juventus (4-2-3-1)
Buffon; Barzagli, Rugani, Benatia, Alex Sandro; Sturaro, Pjanic; Costa, Dybala, Asamoah; HiguaÃn
PREDICTION
Confidence and organization mean a lot in today's
football, and Barça seem to have both in abundance at the moment: 2-1
win for the Blaugrana.
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