It’s only match day 2 but Tottenham will be fighting to stay alive in the UCL (UEFA Champions League) when they welcome the might of Barcelona at the new Wembley stadium on Wednesday night. Spurs failure to hang on to their lead on match day 1, conceding two late goals in the last five minutes at the San Siro has left them in a precarious situation in group B. The 2-1 defeat to Inter Milan was their third in a row at the time but they have since bounced back to win three successive games to progress to the fourth round of the Carabao cup and reach fourth place in the Premier League table.
La Liga champions and current league leaders Barcelona spanked PSV 4-0 on the opening match day with Lionel Messi scoring a record eighth hat-trick in the UCL and hence sit top of the group. However, their La-Liga form has been patchy of late. Barcelona have only taken two points from their past three games in the league. They were held to a draw by Girona, lost to Leganes and only a late equaliser helped salvaged a point against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
With Barcelona arriving for this fixture is such horrible form, Tottenham will see this as an opportunity to further compound Ernesto Valverde’s woes. The two sides only ever meeting at a European competitive fixture was in the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1981/82 season. Alan Simonsen’s strike at the Camp Nou in the second leg proved enough to see Barca through to the final after the first leg had ended 1-1 at White Hart Lane. Barcelona also have recent joy at the venue of this fixture having won their last Champions League trophy at Wembley Stadium.
Spurs are already sweating on the fitness of talisman Christian Eriksen and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Dele Alli has also joined the list of the walking wounded. Alli who missed spurs trip to Huddersfield has suffered a recurrence of the hamstring issue that made him withdraw from the England squad for the Three Lions fixtures in last month’s UEFA Nations League. Jan Vertonghen and Moussa Dembele were also both taken off at half-time in the Huddersfield game with what looked like muscular injuries and will have to be assessed ahead of this crucial game. Pochettino lamented the spate of injuries in his squad, citing the intensity and physical nature of the league after the weekend game. He emphasised the need to make every player feel important in the squad, implying that Harry winks and Victor Wanyama who deputised for the Belgians in the second half may reprise the roles on Wednesday if they fail to pass their fitness test.
Umtiti will miss this game for Barcelona having seen red on match day 1 against PSV while former spurs target Malcom will also miss out after being left out of the travelling party to Wembley. The Brazilian winger is still struggling to adapt to life at the Camp Nou after only tasting 25 minutes of action so far in two substitutes appearances. Right back Roberto was also forced off due to a thigh injury in the second half of the Bilbao game at the weekend. These injuries will most likely open the door for Clement Lenglet and Nelson Semedo who are the like-for-like replacements for the injured players unless Valverde opts for a change of tactics.
Expected Line-Ups
Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga, Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies, Wanyama, Dier, Moura, Lamela, Son, Kane
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter-Stegen, Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Rakitic, Busquets, Coutinho, Dembele, Suarez, Messi
Verdict
I think this will be another loss for Tottenham and will pour further scorn on them not strengthening in the transfer window, verdict is 2-1 to Barcelona.