News

Tottenham Face The Almighty Barcelona

The Champions League is back in our lives, and we should all be extremely grateful for that fact. The competition pits the best clubs in the world, not just Europe, against one another for our own entertainment. In many ways just getting into the UCL is considered to be an overwhelmingly positive achievement for most clubs, but when it comes to the two we’re going to talk about today, they have much higher ambitions. In fact, victory in this game later this week could be the key to having a thoroughly successful campaign – meaning a loss could be fairly disastrous.

Both Tottenham and Barcelona are considered to be two of the more ‘notable’ teams in the competition this year, and as such, we should be in for something of a treat when they square off at Wembley. Of course, most Spurs fans would prefer that this game didn’t happen at Wembley, but the issues with their new stadium have been well documented. Barca, on the other hand, are no strangers to competing at the home of English football, as it’s where they were able to defeat Manchester United and win the Champions League title back in 2011.

Alas, that’ll mean nothing when they go head to head, and it should be a much more open game than people would’ve anticipated. Both clubs have been on something of an interesting trajectory over the course of the last few months, and this only appears to be the start of it. They have two fanbases that have incredibly high expectations and that’ll likely never change, which can sometimes be to their detriment. So either way, we can likely expect some complaints on social media one way or another – as well as lots of joy from the rivals of Spurs and Barca, of which they have many.

The Champions League seems to bring out a different side of most clubs as if they’re hellbent on making a statement to the rest of the world. Obviously, there are very few ways in which that’s a bad thing, but in terms of this encounter, all we can really hope for is that they play to their potential when they square off. Pochettino will be desperate to get one over on Barca given the history he has with the club, and the Spanish giants always seem to be at the top of their game when they’re playing an English team.

In terms of their respective forms heading into this one, though, Tottenham have certainly been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride. They endured a difficult three game spell in which they suffered defeats against Watford, Liverpool and Inter Milan, with the latter being a big blow to their Champions League hopes. They bounced back with three consecutive wins, though, against Watford in the League Cup, Brighton and Huddersfield. While Barca will serve as a gigantic step up in competition, all you really need is a little bit of momentum – and that can easily take you a long way.

Barca’s form as of late has kind of been the reverse, with three impressive wins over SD Huesca, Sociedad and PSV Eindhoven, scoring 14 goals in the process. They then hit something of a brick wall with a draw against Girona, followed up by a surprise loss to Leganes and another draw, this time against Bilbao. Thankfully for them their bitter rivals Real Madrid haven’t been faring much better in recent weeks, and the return of the Champions League could be a welcome distraction from what has been a really confusing start to their league campaign over in Spain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLW76ZlgCfo

In terms of their prior head to head meetings, there isn’t much to speak of, although many are jokingly calling this the Gary Lineker derby given that he played for both clubs. Their only two competitive meetings came within the same month back in April 1982, with a 1-1 draw in the first leg being followed up by a 1-0 win for Barca. Both have played English and Spanish teams respectively in Europe quite a lot over the years so it’s kind of surprising to see how little they’ve been pitted against one another, although it should make for some interesting battles throughout the course of 90 minutes.

Barcelona will have some changes that need to be made in their starting XI, with a few absences that could make for some interesting appearances. Sergi Roberto and Samuel Umtiti will both be big misses, with Nelson Semedo being expected to maintain his starting spot as a result. Arturo Vidal will likely start to add some much needed strength and tenacity into the side, and up top, we can expect a suitably strong attacking setup with Lionel Messi leading the charge. As we know, the Argentine has had an interesting relationship with English football, and we imagine that’s going to continue.

For Spurs, however, there are plenty of red flags ahead of the game, with Dele Alli almost certainly being ruled out which is arguably the biggest absence of them all. Gazzaniga will play in goal once again which could serve as a huge coming out party for him, or on the flip side, could lead to a disaster. Lloris, Eriksen, Vertonghen and Dembele are all expected to be gameday decisions courtesy of their fitness, and as time goes on, Tottenham’s decision not to bring in any more new faces during the summer transfer window seems even more baffling.

Tottenham vs Barcelona Betting Prediction

It seems obvious to suggest that Spurs need to go straight at Barca from the word go, but that’s just the way it is. This game is vital to the success of their season in Europe because if they lose this one, then zero points from two games is going to be difficult to come back from. The Wembley crowd need to get behind their team in a big way, and while that’s been difficult in the past given that it isn’t their ‘true home’, the stakes are higher than they ever have been before.

Tottenham are definitely capable of getting a positive result from this, and we can see them scoring first in this one. It’s going to be something of a shootout which you’d think would suit the home side, although we’ve seen in the past that Barca can change it up when necessary. Barca are likely going to smother them in midfield which will ensure that Tottenham doesn’t win the game, but we’re still predicting them to come away with a 2-2 draw in a game that will prove their credentials in the realms of European football. Get ready, folks, this’ll be a good one.