Barcelona vs Celtic: Preview and Prediction

FC Barcelona vs Celtic FC
UEFA Champions League – Group C
Date: Tuesday, 13th September, 2016,
Kick-Off: 19:45 UK,
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona.

Barcelona kick-off their UEFA Champions League campaign with a home match against Scottish opposition Celtic FC.

Barcelona were eliminated from last year’s competition in the quarter finals by domestic rivals Atletico Madrid on a 3-2 aggregate. The Blaugrana were unbeaten until the second leg at Madrid and were leading 2-1 on aggregate. But they surrendered the lead and bow out of the competition with a 2-0 loss. They have an excellent home record in the competition after winning in 15 of the last 16 matches at Camp Nou.

Celta return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2013/14. It was a forgettable outing for the Scottish Champions as they finished bottom of their group behind Barcelona, Milan and Ajax. They suffered the heaviest defeat in the trip to Camp Nou in which the score-line read 6-1 at full time.

The two other teams in the Group C of 2016 UEFA Champions League consists of Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Barcelona vs Celtic: Head-to-Head Stats

The latest meeting between these two sides was on July 2016 for the International Champions Cup fixture at the Aviva Stadium in Glasgow which was won by Barcelona by a 3-1 margin.

Celtic have tasted defeat in their last three visits to Camp Nou, while drew in the previous two. Out of the 10 competitive fixture played between them, Barcelona have won 6 as against Celtic’s 2, while 2 matches end in draws.

Celtic are yet to win a match after 14 visits to Spain, with their record reading 3 draws and 11 losses.

Barcelona vs Celtic: Prediction

Luis Enrique will be urging his team to put on an improved performance after their shock defeat to the newly promoted Alaves in the weekend. They haven’t lost in any of their previous 16 home matches in the Champions League taking 15 wins during the period.

Celtic maybe dominant in the Scottish league, but they haven’t done well in Europe lately. They are coming here on the back of an 8 match win-less run in UEFA competitions while playing away from home. This have also lost in all three away matches in this season’s qualifiers. And against an opponent of Barcelona’s quality, they are staring at a huge defeat.