Viktoria Plzen will take on Barcelona in round 6 of the UEFA Champions League group stage. The match will take place at Doosan Arena in Plzen on Tuesday, November 1.
It’s unlikely that anyone thought Victoria Pilsen would be able offer a fight to the other teams in the group. After all, there were also such rivals like Inter, Bayern and Barcelona. Victoria has not scored any points after five rounds. However, they are the most conceding team at the moment league championship draw. The Czech have allowed 20 goals after 5 rounds. The fight is not tournament-worthy, as Viktoria cannot leave fourth place and Barcelona are 100% in third. It is hard to believe Viktoria will be in a position to slam the door and offer some struggle for the Catalans. After all, in 5 previous meetings, Victoria failed to succeed. The Czech team is now at 2:4 with Bayern.
Barcelona failed again in Champions League. This is not a new thing, as they were unable to leave the group last season. The Catalans won’t have to use anything in this game and they won’t be in a position to move up in the group’s third place. However, I expect visitors to form a fighting line-up and the fighting spirit for this match. Barcelona is not in these conditions right now. They must not impose their will on the opponents and try to merge people who aren’t interested in the fights. To end on a high note, they must maintain their image, even after a disappointing league championship tournament. In fact, here we lean towards the bet option – a handicap to the visitors. Visitors are capable of winning here and it will at least brighten up last week’s bitter loss to Bayern by 0:3.
Barcelona’s performance at this tournament raises many questions. However, the Catalans have yet to roll up to the point where they will encounter problems against the Czech champion. Barcelona defeated Viktoria 5 to 1 in the reverse fixture. The Catalans can score a few goals on the road, however. Our bet is on Barcelona with -1.5 handicap.
Prediction: Barcelona will win with -1.5 handicap
