CL | Round 3 - E: BATE Borisov - FC Barcelona 0-2

[Flavia]

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Date: Tuesday, 10/20/2015 20:45
Stadium: Borisov Arena
City: Borisov
Capacity: 13,126
Competition:Champions League
Referee: Manuel De Sousa (POR)


Injured: Messi, Rafinha, Iniesta


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BATE bid to ensure no Barcelona repeat
BATE Borisov welcome Group E rivals Barcelona on matchday three hoping to avoid a repeat of their fate when the sides last met in Belarus – and Barça won 5-0.
FC BATE Borisov will hope to avoid a repeat of their fate when they last met FC Barcelona as the teams face off again in Group E.

Previous meetings
• Barcelona put nine goals past BATE when the clubs met in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Belarus played their home fixture in Minsk where Lionel Messi (2), Pedro Rodríguez and David Villa scored and Aleksandr Volodko contributed an own goal in a 5-0 Barcelona triumph. Back at Camp Nou, Sergi Roberto hit his first UEFA Champions League goal and Pedro (2) and Martín Montoya also scored as Barça prevailed 4-0.

 

[Vlom]

I can't imagine us getting anything but a win there, fingers crossed !

 

[Luftstalag14]

I will be very happy to take a 0:1 win. Please do not concede any more goals.

 

[Vlom]

I will be very happy to take a 0:1 win. Please do not concede any more goals.

A clean sheet (especially for MatS) would be awesome indeed !

 

[barcafan161]

3-0 please

 

[Barcafan 2304]

Given our current defence I'm not taking anything for granted but hoping for a strong performance and Suarez and Neymar to add to their tallies

 

[Barcaman]

We did trash them 4 years ago but this is a stronger BATE and weaker Barca (at least without Messi and Iniesta) so this will be closer.

 

[Neeraj]

We did trash them 4 years ago but this is a stronger BATE and weaker Barca (at least without Messi and Iniesta) so this will be closer.

Definitely.

The way we are playing now, I can't understand it. Lowly, bottom half teams seem to pass and get out of tight situations better than us of late, our attacking is naught but a function of individual pieces of skill and let's not talk about our defense. We may win this by a decent margin, but like the Rayo game, I think anything but an actual betterment in footballing performance would be covering the deep cracks we have atm.

 

[Barcaman]

Xavi is no longer here and there were no Iniesta and Messi vs. Rayo so we looked out of sorts but I agree that's not an excuse for our defense.
We won't win anything if we don't improve at the back no matter how much our forwards score.

 

[Ghostmaster]

[formation=barca,6]
TerStegen
0-Piqué-0-0-0-Bartra-0
Alves-0-0-0-0-0-Alba
0-Busquets-0-0-0-Mascherano-0
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
0-0-0-Roberto-0-0-0
0-Munir-0-0-0-Neymar-0
0-0-0-Suarez-0-0-0
[/formation]

Not a fan of double pivot, but Rakitic needs rest, would also pick Vermaelen over Bartra if he is ready and Bravo over Ter Stegen, but the latter scenario is very unlikely.

 

[gatsu]

In our current form there is no such a thing as guaranteed win. Doesn't matter against who, every match will be a struggle.

Right now I'm just asking for the 3 points. A win away will give us a serious advantage.

 

[FCBarca]

Don't like that we get an inexperienced referee who doesn't book many fouls, you can surely do the math

 

[Galning]

There's no easy games at the moment since any team can beat us given our current forum. Win is vital.

 

[Flavia]

Thomas Vermaelen receives medical green light for BATE trip
WWW.FCBARCELONA.COM
10/19/2015 12:29

The Belgian defender has recovered from injury and is one of 20 players headed to Belarus

Thomas Vermaelen has received the medical green light and is a new addition to the FC Barcelona squad headed to Belarus to take on BATE Borisov on Tuesday 20 October (8.45pm CET). The Belgian centre-back had been out injured since 12 September during Barça’s visit to the Vicente Calderon.

A total of 20 players will make the journey for third Champions League group match of the season: Ter Stegen, Bravo, Masip, Vermaelen, Dani Alves, Jordi Alba, Adriano, Douglas, Mascherano, Piqué, Mathieu, Bartra, Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets, Rakitic, Gumbau, Munir, Sandro, Suárez and Neymar Jr.

As opposed to the usual Champions League routine, the team had their final training before the match in Barcelona rather than at the venue of the game. All available first team players took part, as did Gumbau from Barça B.
After the training session ended, the team went to El Prat airport to catch their flight to Belarus, which is expected to land at 6.45pm CET in Minsk.

 

[EdmondDantes]

Mascherano to start this. Suarez, Ney and hopefully one of Munir or Sandro to score but better yet we should be looking to get a clean sheet.