BATE Borisov vs Barcelona: Preview, TV channel info, Team News, Prediction, Betting odds

Luis Enrique’s side is currently top of Group E

Reigning European champions FC Barcelona travel to Belarus on Tuesday for their Champions League match against BATE Borisov in their third Group E encounter. Barcelona waltzed past Rayo Vallecano on Saturday night registering a triumphant 5-2 victory and now have a date with the supposedly weakest team in the group.

BATE will face the Catalan giants on the back of a 2-0 win over FK Vitebsk with the club from Belarus having surprised many with their 3-2 win over Roma. Barcelona need to win both their upcoming games against BATE to guarantee their place in the knockout stages at the earliest. Luis Enrique will be well aware of the importance of this match, and prepare his team to get the maximum possible points at the Borisov Arena.

Kickoff and Telecast

Date and Time: 20 October 2015 – 20:45 CET (Wednesday – 00:15 IST)

Venue: Borisov Arena, Barysaw

Channel: Ten HD

Team News

Barcelona are missing several key players due to injury, namely Rafinha, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta. Dani Alves is expected to feature in his usual right back position and Jordi Alba will line up on the left side of defence. In attack, Luis Suarez and Neymar are expected to line up with Munir El Haddadi and the Brazilian will want to build upon his magical four-goal performance against Rayo.

BATE Borisov have had a great run this season, having secured 56 points from 23 games and have a 10-point lead over second placed Dinamo Minsk. Manager Aleksandr Yermakovich believes that Barcelona is beatable and will be fielding his strongest side available. Much will be expected of impact substitute Dmitri Mozolevski who has been out of action for over two years, but scored a very beautiful goal in their title clincher match. Vitali Rodionov and Maksim Zhavnerchik are injured and will not feature in the squad.

Probable Lineups

BATE Borisov (4-2-3-1): Chernik; Polyakov, Dubra, Milunovic, Mladenovic; Nikolic, Yablonski; Stasevich, Gordeychuk, Volodko; Signevich

Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen, Alves, Bartra, Vermaelen, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Roberto, Munir, Suarez, Neymar

Neymar scored 4 goals in Neymar goal Barcelona’s 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano

Form

Barcelona head into the match with a thumping 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano with Neymar grabbing a quadruple and the Brazilian will fancy his chances against BATE. Suarez too will be hopeful of finding the back of the net. Barcelona are joint leaders in the league level on points with Real Madrid and Celta Vigo.

The absence of the trio of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Rafinha will be a cause of concern for Enrique but Barcelona’s major problem this season has been their defensive issues. Barca have kept only two clean sheets this term and none of the defenders have been at their best. Enrique said as much in his pre-match press conference and expects his side to give a promising account in defence.

Last 5 games: W-L-W-W-L (Last match: Barcelona 5-2 Rayo Vallecano)

Bate Borisov are in somewhat of a hot streak at the moment and, having all but won the league with three games remaining, they will play fearlessly against Barcelona after guaranteeing their place in the next season’s Champions League. After losing their opening fixture to Bayer Leverkusen, a loss at home would make their chances of qualifying to the round of 16 extremely difficult.

Last 5 games: W-D-W-W-W (Last match: FK Vitebsk 0-2 Bate Borisov)

Borisov have already beaten AS Roma in the Champions League

Key Stats

• Borisov have lost nine of their 10 games against Spanish opposition in European competitions, registering their solitary victory against Athletic Bilbao at home in last season's Champions League group stages.
• Borisov and Barcelona's only previous meeting was in the 2011/12 Champions League group stages. The Catalan club won both their games with a score line of 5-0 in Belarus and 4-0 at the Camp Nou.
• Borisov have never progressed past the group stages of the Champions League in four previous attempts.

Prediction

Barcelona should register a pretty comfortable win over their Belarusian counterparts who are still in a state of jubilation from their league win. Expect Neymar and Suarez to be among the goals while Bate will do their utmost to register a win and keep their chances of qualification to the knockout stages alive.

Predicted score: Barcelona 3-1 BATE Borisov

Betting Odds

BATE Borisov – 10/1

Draw – 5/1

Barcelona – 3/10