After overcoming Manchester United in the quarter-final of the Champions League, Barcelona will face Liverpool in the last four of the competition.
Reds manager Jurgen Klopp has already irritated the local press in Spain after claiming that Camp Nou is ‘no temple of football’ and it’s thought this could motivate the La Liga winners for the crucial clash on Wednesday.
Mundo Deportivo and Sport have predicted the starting lineup to face the English club and the two newspapers have predicted the same eleven.
Marc-André ter Stegen will be in goal, he’s conceded only five goals and kept five clean sheets in nine appearances so far. In the knockout stages, the German stopper has conceded only once in four matches.
That’s mainly due to a centre-back partnership between Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet, who have been exceptional this season. Lenglet has grabbed his opportunity, which was made available to him due to Samuel Umtiti’s injury woes earlier this season.
The duo are predicted to start against the Merseyside club, with Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto expected to play as a left-back and right-back respectively.
Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic have been the two key players in the midfield and the duo will start alongside Arthur.
UEFA have announced Björn Kuipers will be the referee for the tie and the hosts have not won a match he has officiated since 2012. Their overall record is only three wins in eight matches.
Having said that, one cannot simply ignore Barca’s form in this season’s Champions League where they are still unbeaten. Out of the 10 matches, they have won seven and drawn three.
The defensive record of Ernesto Valverde’s side is also impressive as they have conceded only six goals, while they have scored 23 times.
Jurgen Klopp’s side, on the other hand, has lost three times in the European competition this season. They have scored 18 goals, conceded eight goals and kept four clean sheets in 10 games.
The stats are in favour of Barcelona and it should be seen if they can keep another clean sheet at home to improve their chances of making the final in Madrid.
