Celtic vs Barcelona: Preview and Prediction

Celtic vs Barcelona
UEFA Champions League – Group C
Date: Wednesday, 23rd November 2016.
Kick-off at 19:45 UK.
Venue: Celtic Park, Glasgow.

Luis Enrique and FC Barcelona and keen to keen to bounce back with a win when they meet Celtic on Wednesday’s Champions League tie.

Celtic are coming to matchday 5 sitting at the bottom of the Group C table with 2 points. They have mixed form in this season’s campaign as they bounced back with a 3-3 draw against Man City on matchday 2 after suffering a heavy 7-0 thrashing from Barcelona on matchday 1.

However, Celtic had their best chance to push for qualification in the two legged clashes against Borussia Monchengladbach. However they failed to utilize the opportunity as the Bundesliga outfit defeated them 2-1 at Glasgow before being held to a 1-1 draw on matchday 4.

Barcelona on the other hand were beaten by Manchester City on matchday 4. The wins from the first three games give them 9 points which keep them at the top of the group. At the same time, there is only a 2 point gap against second placed Man City, so Barcelona must look to win at Celtic in order to qualify to the knockout stages as group winners.

The Blaugrana are having some serious injury crisis ahead of Wednesday’s fixture as reports suggest that Messi is yet to recover from an illness. While mid-field maestro Andres Iniesta alongside defenders Umtiti and Mathieu are already sidelined.

Celtic vs Barcelona: Head-to-head stats

Barcelona lead the head-to-head against Celtic with 7 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats from 11 matches between them so far.

Both Celtic wins have come at Glasgow, the latest a shock 2-1 win during the group phase of 2012/13 Champions League.

This is Barcelona’s sixth visit to Glasgow, they have won in 3 of the previous 5.

Celtic vs Barcelona: Prediction

There is no doubt that Celtic are a better team at home but they are still an inconsistent team. One thing we can point out is that they will not suffer a heavy defeat against big sides in front of their home fans. They have lost 2 and won once in the last three home matches against Barcelona, with the defeats coming only by a 1 goal margin.

Considering Barcelona’s injury crisis and Celtic’s capability to surprise big teams it will be beneficial to opt for a handicap +2 goals in favour of the home side.