BARCELONA VS AS ROMA PREVIEW & PREDICTION
It is starting to get really exciting in the Champions League, where FC Barcelona and AS Roma will compete for a place in the semi-finals. The Spaniards are of course the towering favorite, but the Italians will want to sell their skin expensive.
FC Barcelona:
Five-time Champions League-winner FC Barcelona is in the league this season and still undefeated in Europe and is therefore a natural favorite to place itself at the expense of AS Roma for the semi-finals of the European champions ball. The tiki-taka of the era under Pep Guardiola is indeed a thing of the past, but under Ernesto Valverde’s coach the Spaniards are a lot better in balance. The Blaugrana only had to face two opponents in eight Champions League matches this season, while in the front they can almost always count on the scoring ability of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.
Messi did not score six times in the Champions League this season, which is of course relatively low. Yet he is and remains the big man on the side of FC Barcelona. The Argentinian started last weekend, visiting Sevilla, on the bench, but managed to save his team just beforehand as a substitute for her very first league defeat of the season: 2-2. Messi also let the last two practice matches with Argentina pass by, but will undoubtedly kick off again on Wednesday-evening. To the relief of the fans, because without FC Pulga FC Barcelona is a whole lot less, as we could already see against Seville and also in the Copa del Rey against Espanyol and Celta de Vigo. In the midfield, however, Valverde must do some puzzling. Sergio Busquets is not fit, while Philippe Coutinho is not eligible to play. Record purchase Ousmane Dembele will therefore probably function as a refined right-wing.
AS Roma:
AS Roma has nothing to lose on Wednesday evening. In the previous round, the Italians were able to shake off the treacherous Shakhtar Donetsk on the basis of goals. After a 2-1 defeat in the first leg, the Turkish prodigy Cengiz Ünder eventually crowned himself a great hero by shooting his team in the return in his own Stadio Olimpico to a 1-0 victory. Even against FC Barcelona, everything will have to be in order to have a chance to win a spot in the last four European European ball.
AS Roma has been in good shape in recent weeks, although last weekend with a 1-1 draw at Bologna, a series of four official victories in a row ended. The Bosnian striker helped AS Roma with his fourteenth league goal, which meant that the Romans were able to stay ahead of Inter in the battle for third place in the Serie A. With the self-confidence it is certainly mustache at the Giallorossi . ‘If we play our own game we can handle everyone,’ says trainer Eusebio di Francesco. ‘Especially the mental aspect is important. You can not let the opponent get into her game and have to show that you want to dominate. ‘ Well, dominating at the Camp Nou has been given very few teams. In addition, there is a chance that the Italians will have to miss some important players, because both Ünder and Radja Nainggolan are doubtful. Nainggolan himself thinks he can play. “I feel good, otherwise I would not go to Barcelona,” said the Belgian midfielder.
PREDICTION: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.46
