Barcelona vs Roma – UEFA Champions League – Preview

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Sreya

FC Barcelona will host AS Roma at El Camp Nou on Tuesday, 24th November on Matchday Five of the UEFA Champions League. While Barcelona need just a point to progress to the next round of the Champions League, Roma need full three points to have hopes for qualification to the Round of 16.

The Group E is poised with FC Barcelona in a good place, accumulating 10 points after four matches while Roma is on 5 points, just one point greater than Bayer Leverkusen who face BATE Borisov.

Team News

Rafinha and Douglas are sidelined through injuries but Lionel Messi returned from his knee injury against Real Madrid. Javier Mascherano is a doubt and unlikely to feature in the starting line-up.

Roma have a lengthy list of injured players with Kevin Strootman, Elio Capradossi, Francesco Totti, Gervinho and Mohammad Salah ruled out of the game. Daniele de Rossi has been listed as doubtful and will face a late fitness test.

FC Barcelona Possible Starting Lineup: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Jeremy Mathieu, Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Sergi Roberto, Luis Suarez, Neymar.

AS Roma Possible Starting Lineup: Wojciech Szczesny, Maicon, Antonio Rudiger, Kostas Manolas, Lucas Digne, Miralem Pjanic, Seydou Keita, Radja Nainggolan, Alessandro Florenzi, Edin Dzeko, Juan Iturbe.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“We enjoyed it a lot, not just because of our play. We had a great game at Madrid. Leo is a very important player for us and hopefully he’ll keep feeling better with each match. We want to do well in every game and work to the maximum to keep doing it.”

– Ivan Rakitic, Barcelona.

“We battled hard and at least come away with a point against Bologna. Tuesday will be a different competition. We’re going to have to take a step up because it’s a different game in a different setting. Hopefully we can prepare for it well and produce a big performance at Barcelona.”

– Rudi Garcia, AS Roma.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, Barcelona have won 25% of its matches against AS Roma. Barcelona will be high on confidence after they defeated Real Madrid 4-0 in the El Clasico on Saturday.

Roma are seeking a first away win in the UEFA Champions League since beating FC Basel 1893 in November 2010. Considering their depleted attacking options, it would be extremely difficult for Rudi Garcia’s side to get even one point.

On current form, Barcelona are likely to win with a probable 2-0 scoreline.