Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen Prediction and Preview – 29/09/15
Champions League preview – Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction
The big loss for Barcelona in this match is Lionel Messi, who joins Claudio Bravo and Rafinha on the injury list. This is likely to be the first of a few Champions League games missed by Messi, who could be out for around 2 months. With Thomas Vermaelen and Jordi Alba also doubtful, Adriano may play at left-back.
Bayer Leverkusen are definitely without Tin Jedvaj, Charles Aranguiz and Omer Toprak for the trip to the Camp Nou. It will be interesting to see if manager Roger Schmidt decides to bring back both Hakan Calhanoglu and Kevin Kampl for this game, having started both on the bench at the weekend.
Possible Line-ups
Barcelona: 4-3-3 formation: ter Stegen; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano; Rakitic, Busquets, Roberto; Neymar, Suarez, Iniesta
Bayer Leverkusen: 4-4-2 formation: Leno; Donati, Papadopoulos, Tah, Wendell; Mehmedi, Bender, Kramer, Calhanoglu; Bellarabi, Kiessling
Statistics
- Barcelona have won 5, drawn 3 and lost 2 of their last 10 matches
- Bayer Leverkusen have won 5 and lost 5 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Barcelona have scored an average of 1.7 goals and conceded an average of 1.7 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Bayer Leverkusen have scored an average of 1.2 goals and conceded an average of 1.1 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 6 of Barcelona’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Bayer Leverkusen’s previous 10 matches
Key Players
Prediction
By their high standards, Barcelona have been struggling of late and the loss of Lionel Messi will only add to their troubles. However, despite the set-back at Celta Vigo, Luis Enrique’s team still find themselves just a point off league leaders Villarreal. In terms of the Champions League, a hard fought point at Roma, means a win here will cement Barcelona’s position as favourites to qualify from the group.
Despite a couple of disappointing results in the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen have had a good start to the season and come in to this match having won their last 2 league games without conceding a goal. Furthermore, Leverkusen got their Champions League campaign off to the perfect start in match day one, brushing aside BATE 4-1 at home and will believe they are meeting Barcelona at the best possible time.
That being said, the last time these teams met at the Camp Nou, which was in 2012, Barcelona won 7-1 and although a similar scoreline is unlikely, the home team should do enough to win.
Tips
Barcelona win at 2/5 – Click here to bet with Bet365
Both teams to score at 5/6 – Click here to bet with Bet365
Suarez to score first and Barcelona to win at 3/1 – Click here to bet with Bet365
What are your predictions?
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