The Barcelona vs Celtic Champions League match will take place next Wednesday, December 11, 2013 (11:45 AM Pacific), where Barcelona will entertain Celtic at the Camp Nou only needing one point to secure the group lead. The Catalan team was caught by surprise at Amsterdam two weeks ago, by a mighty and brave Ajax that managed to delay the decision of who will be the winners of Group H. As for Celtic, this match is all about glory, since the team has already been ruled out of this season’s edition of the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona is going through a less impressive moment, both domestically and at the European level. The Blaugrana team was defeated at Amsterdam ArenA by Ajax last month and their overall performance left something to be desired.
Messi’s injury has been a major headache for Barcelona’s head coach, Tata Martino. With the Argentinean star out until January, Tata Martino will probably again line-up Neymar, Cesc Fàbregas, and Alexis Sanchez up in the front, with Pedro also looking for a spot at the starting line-up.
Victor Valdes will also be missing from Barcelona’s starting lineup, since the goalkeeper is still recovering from a long-term injury.
The Spanish champions have completely dominated their home matches so far this season, scoring a total of seven goals and conceding only one against AC Milan. However, their away performances have been far from brilliant, and they have only managed to win one match at Glasgow, at the expense of their upcoming opponent. When both teams met last October, Barcelona won 1-0 with a late goal from Cesc Fàbegras, after what one may call a controversial red card to Celtic’s captain, Scott Brown.
As for Celtic, next Wednesday’s match doesn’t mean anything in terms of moving forward to the next stage of the competition. The Scottish team is at the bottom of the group (with just three points in five matches) and will end at the last place, regardless of the result at Camp Nou.
Contrary to Tata Martino, Celtic’s manager, Neil Lennon, has almost every player at his disposal for next Wednesday’s clash. James Forrest and Adam Matthews are back from injury and the versatile Greek forward Georgios Samaras is reportedly fit after being out due to illness.
Barcelona vs Celtic Prediction
Barcelona wants to keep up with the team’s good home form and should not experience any major difficulties to beat a Celtic team that seemed very fragile throughout the competition. Even without their biggest star, Lionel Messi, the most likely outcome is 3-0 to Barcelona.
Barcelona vs Celtic Television
The Barcelona vs Celtic match will be televised on Fox Sports this Wednesday, December 11, 2013 at 11:45 AM Pacific.
