Barcelona and Viktoria Plzen face off on Wednesday in a Group C UEFA Champions League game at Camp Nou.
Barcelona comes into this game sitting in second place in La Liga, having picked up 10 points on the season. In the last game against Sevilla, the offense scored three goals and that was enough for the easy victory. Barcelona finished the game with 55 percent of the possession and seven shots on goal. Barcelona has scored 11 goals this season, while the defense has given up one goal. Robert Lewandowski has been the top player this season, scoring five goals. The good news for Barcelona is that they don’t have any injury issues right now, but I would still expect some guys to sit out. One guy who looks like they might start the game on the bench is Eric Garcia.
On the other side of this matchup is Viktoria Plzen, who currently sits in second place in the Czech First League, having picked up 16 points. In the last game against Liberic, the defense was excellent, and it was a goal in the 41st minute that was the difference as they secured the 1-0 victory. On the season, they have scored 11 goals and the defense has given up four goals. They are averaging 1.83 goals per game, while their defense is giving up 0.67 goals per game. In this game, if they want to secure the win, it’s going to need to be the defense that steps up in a big way. Petr Pejsa is still dealing with a knee injury and won’t be going in this game. I would expect them to go in a defensive shape here,
Viktoria Plzen can go in whatever defensive shape they want, it’s not going to matter, they just aren’t talented enough to slow down this Barcelona team. Even if Barcelona plays some of the reserves, it’s not going to matter, Barcelona is going to have no issue running up the score. Look for Barcelona to score at least three goals, and Viktoria Plzen won’t get on the board. Back Barcelona -2.5 to cash.