Barcelona vs Monchengladbach: Preview and Prediction

Barcelona vs Monchengladbach
UEFA Champions League – Group C
Date: Tuesday, 6th December 2016.
Kick-off at 19:45 UK.
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona.

Barcelona have already qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League 2016/17 and the top position in the group is confirmed after the 2-0 win over Celtic on matchday 5. Their final group game is a just a formality but Luis Enrique will be keen to extend the home record of his team in the competition. The Blaugrana are unbeaten in their last 18 Champions League home games with 17 wins and 1 draw. They are also on a 13 match winning run.

Borussia Monchengladbach will be bidding farewell to their Champions League campaign on Tuesday as they will finish third independent of the results from the two group games. The 1-1 away draw at Manchester City gave them an unbeatable lead over the bottom placed Celtic and as a result the Bundesliga team will go straight into the Europa League knockout stages. All the positions in the group C are confirmed at the end of matchday 5 and there is little to play for in their final group games.

Barcelona vs Monchengladbach: Head-to-head Stats

The first leg clash on matchday 2 is the only competitive meeting between the two teams till today. Barcelona came from a goal behind to defeat Gladbach 2-1 on that occasion. Thorgan Hazard broke the deadline in 34 minutes, while Arda Turan pulled level through a 65th minute goal and Barca’s winner came through an unlikely source Gerard Pique in the 74th minute.

Barcelona have a good record against Bundesliga sides at home as they have won in 18 of the 25 matches alongside a draw, while they were beaten 6 times. Borussia Monchengladbach had only won once in their 7 visits to Spain, while they drew 2 and lost 4.

Barcelona vs Monchengladbach: Prediction

It is very likely that the teams will rotate the squad heavily as their final standings in the group is already confirmed. Both teams are not in the finest of their forms. Barcelona are coming on the back of three consecutive draws and have only win to their name in the last 5 matches. They will be also without two key players – Neymar and Ivan Rakitic through suspension.

Gladbach on the other hand are without a win in the last 7 and have a poor record in away games. On the basis of home record, Barcelona can be backed for a win, but we expect the match to see at least three goal with both teams finding the back of the net.