It’s pretty clear that a game is meaningless for a club when their local media are publishing lists of reasons they should try and win the match.
Whilst for Tottenham, the Camp Nou encounter is hugely important and will determine whether they qualify for the next round of the Champions League, unless Inter lose at home to PSV, for Barcelona it means zilch in terms of progression.
The Catalan media have been talking up the prospect of a very experimental side taking to the pitch, and now Sport have also put together 5 points of motivation for their local heroes.
Money. UEFA pays out €2.7m for a CL victory and €900k for a draw, with more going into a pot which is then divided up between the teams with the most victories.
Who they want to qualify. Sport say that Barca have a big say in who goes through, so they need to decide who they’d rather face later on in the competition if the occasion arises. It’s pointed out ‘Pochettino has never hidden his sympathies for Real Madrid’ and the Blaugrana ‘thrashed the English at Wembley’, which would suggest they’d rather face Spurs… so would be better losing… which isn’t really a motivation to win.
Remain undefeated at the Camp Nou. Squint your eyes now Tottenham fans: Barcelona haven’t lost a CL match at home since May 1st, 2013. There’s been 26 wins and 2 draws since.
Prestige. In short, winning is good.
Individual aspirations. This, and the unbeaten record, and the real problems for Tottenham. Lionel Messi is top CL goalscorer this season with 6 so far, and he’ll want to stay there. That could lead to him agitating to play, and if Messi pushes to play then it’s hardly likely Ernesto Valverde will refuse him.
