Barcelona failed to qualify for the Champions League last 16 for the second straight season. Despite the financial levers, the club pulled in the offseason to sign high-paid players including Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, the team has not been good enough to finish in the top two of Group C.
The Blaugrana have four points from five games in the Champions League. Their only win came against Viktoria Plzen on matchday No 1.
🛫 Trip to the Czech Republic pic.twitter.com/gp9tXWbUx9— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 31, 2022
🛫 Trip to the Czech Republic pic.twitter.com/gp9tXWbUx9
Barcelona won the fixture 5-1 at Camp Nou. However, they failed to defeat Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in four straight games in the group stage.
Viktoria Plzen are fourth in the group with zero points. They cannot progress to the Europa League last 16 playoffs, which is where Barcelona will go for the second straight campaign.
The Czech club have a record of 16W-3D-6L this season in all competitions. They have scored 47 goals and conceded 35 times. Viktoria are coming off a 3-0 win in the Czech league at the weekend against FC Zlin.
Barcelona go into Tuesday’s game following a 1-0 win away to Valencia. The win came after a Champions League matchday No 5 loss to Bayern Munich. The Germans went to Camp Nou and dominated Barcelona, winning 3-0.
The lack of Champions League football could see Barcelona’s board continue to sell off parts of the club.
Several teams around Europe are quietly smiling over Barcelona not making the last 16 of the tournament, as they expect the Spaniards to face further financial problems.
Barcelona manager Xavi has several players on the injury list ahead of the weekend. Defenders Eric Garcia and Jules Kounde are both out of action for the game. In addition, defenders Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo are both ruled out as well.
Forward Memphis Depay is still out and won’t return until November. Midfielder Sergi Roberto has a shoulder injury and won’t be available until mid-November.
Viktoria Plzen’s coach Michal Bilek doesn’t have any fresh injury issues. His team has struggled to score goals, with just three this season. Viktoria conceded 20 goals across five games in the Champions League group stage.
Barcelona had no problem winning against Viktoria Plzen on matchday No 1 in the Champions League. The Blaugrana should ease to victory against Plzen with a 3-0 win. Striker Lewandowski could score and add to his 18 total goals this term.
Barcelona have played well against the poor sides in La Liga, and playing Viktoria Plzen won’t be much different.