If Celtic were delighted with their 5-1 mauling of arch rivals Rangers on Saturday Lunchtime they would have been over the moon with the news that Barcelona lost to Alaves on Saturday night at The Nou Camp. It’s a result that will certainly give Brendan Rodgers’ side hope of pulling off another historic victory against the Catalan giants.
The Green and White Hoops will certainly need to be at their best to make sure that there isn’t a repeat of the demolition job that Barcelona carried out last time these two sides met at The Nou Camp. Back in December 2013 Barcelona ran out 6-1 winners in what was an embarrassing night for Neil Lennon and his Celtic side.
Celtic’s may be bullish going into this game after the events of Saturday but Barcelona could be somewhat of a wounded animal after their embarrassment at the hands of Alaves. They will be looking to take out their frustrations on someone and Celtic could very well be in the firing line.
Hat-trick hero Moussa Dembele must have surely done enough to warrant a start at The Nou Camp, manager Brendan Rodgers said he still hasn’t done enough to assure a start but I think it would be incredibly harsh not to reward with a first team place tonight after his fantastic performance against Rangers.
Barcelona will clearly be the bookmakers favourites for this one and rightly so, Celtic are going to have to hope that they have a night where everything goes right for them and everything goes wrong for Barcelona. The chances of that are incredibly slim but stranger things have happened in Football.
It’s hardly the most outlandish prediction as I’ll go for Barcelona to win tonight’s match. One thing for sure is that when these two sides meet it is never a dull encounter.