Barcelona will host Porto with both teams occupying the top two spots in the table. In an intriguing group, Barcelona leads the section with nine points, tied with Porto in second place. Shakhtar Donetsk, in third position, trails the leaders by just three points.
Preview (Barcelona vs. Porto)
If Barcelona had defeated Shakhtar on November 7, they would have advanced to the Champions League knockout round with two games remaining; instead, the Ukrainian team won 1-0, placing significant pressure on the La Liga leaders. Although Xavi’s team leads Group H, they are far from comfortable since Porto and Shakhtar are only two points apart in second and third place, respectively, on the same number of points (nine). If Barcelona wins on Tuesday, they will guarantee a spot in the competition’s round of sixteen. In case Shakhtar draws or loses to Royal Antwerp in the other match in the section, a draw would also be enough.
If the Catalan team loses and Shakhtar wins, both teams will have nine points going into the last matchday. Xavi’s team will be anxious to avoid having to wait until December 13 to find out their fate. They will finish away to Antwerp. Barcelona comes into this game after a poor 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano in La Liga. As a result, they are now down in fourth place in the standings and have only won two of their previous five games across all competitions. Xavi has made two tries to lead the Catalan team into the Champions League knockout phase, but he has failed.
In Group H, Porto has also been playing well. They have won three and lost one of their four games to a total of nine points. If Shakhtar loses or draws with Antwerp, the Portuguese giants will go to the competition’s knockout phase. Conversely, if Shakhtar loses to the team now bottom of the group. A draw would be sufficient for the Portuguese giants. In this division, Porto has already defeated Antwerp twice and defeated Shakhtar 3-1.
Team News
Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Barcelona’s starting goalkeeper, might be sidelined once more for this game. The German missed the team’s Saturday match against Rayo due to a back problem, and he did not practice with the main squad on Sunday. Inaki Pena could start in goal instead of Stegen. Sergi Roberto, an experienced player, may return to the squad following a period out with a calf injury, but Gavi is also out for the remainder of the year due to a catastrophic knee injury. The starting lineup that began the league match against Rayo will be altered by head coach Xavi. Joao Felix, Ilkay Gundogan, Ronald Araujo, Juliuses Kounde, and Rapinha might all be added.
After overcoming an ankle injury, Frenkie de Jong was able to play the entire ninety minutes against Rayo, and the Netherlands international is expected to start this match. In the meantime, the injury will prevent Samuel Portugal, Ivan Marcano, Gabriel Veron, and Ivan Jaime from playing for Porto. Due to a muscle issue, Wendell is still a significant uncertainty for the Portuguese team. David Carmo, Pepe Aquino, Mehdi Taremi, and Diogo Costa are among the players expected to return from the starting lineup that faced Montalegre in the cup on Friday. Evanilson, however, will have another chance to start.
Barcelona 1 – 1 Porto
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