5 reasons why Barcelona will struggle against Juventus | UEFA Champions League 2020-21

#4 Barcelona's absentees:

Barcelona will be travelling to Turin without Gerard Pique who is suspended for the encounter. They will also not have Samuel Umtiti, Marc Andre Ter-Stegen, and the resurgent Phillipe Coutinho.

Out of all the aforementioned names, Barcelona are surprisingly sure to miss Coutinho the most, as the Brazilian has really found his feet under Koeman.

It had looked like Coutinho's Barcelona career was over when he was loaned to Bayern Munich last season, but the 28-year-old seems to have turned it around and looks set to be a key member of the Blaugrana squad this year.

He is now set to be on the sidelines for at least a couple of weeks with a hamstring issue. That doesn't leave Barcelona short of creativity, but Coutinho seemed to be gelling with Messi & co. for the first time, and to have his momentum halted like this will certainly be detrimental for the team.

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#5 Arthur's return:

Arthur Melo has finally started to get playing time at Juventus since his transfer from Barcelona was made official at the end of last season.

Andrea Pirlo has given the 24-year-old a role in midfield that is similar to what he used to do for the club, when he played with Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal around him.

Arthur came to Juventus as part of a swap deal that saw Miralem Pjanic move to Barcelona

The formation that Pirlo generally plays is a 3-4-1-2 to make up for the lack of natural full-backs and wingers in the team.

Arthur could occupy a midfield spot next to Adrien Rabiot or Rodrigo Bentancur, both of whom love covering every blade of grass.

The Brazilian thrives with an industrious player around him, and if he can get a start alongside one of them for tonight's encounter, Arthur could go on to stamp his authority in the middle of the park.