Xavi’s men have to play the two matches against Viktoria Pilsen in the group of death with Bayern and Inter. secure
Barcelona will make their Champions League debut this Wednesday in a match that should a priori be easy to start the European journey on the right foot. Xavi Hernandez’s men will face Viktoria Pilsen at the Camp Nou with the aim of achieving three points that will allow them to lead the group of death from the start and face the next commitments against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan with a certain composure, the two teams they will play with will be in the next round.
“It’s not an affordable rival, it’s a cheat contest against a very physical rival. We’ve had a tough group, but dreaming is free. We have to get to at least the last 16 and try to win it,” assured Xavi in the press conference before his team’s match against Viktoria Pilsen. The coach from Tarrasa does not trust the Czechs, he knows how important it is to starting a win against the weakest rival and warning sailors how difficult it will be to advance to the next round.
In this way, Xavi wanted to put an end to the euphoria that has erupted around the team in recent weeks. Barça arrive at the Champions League launch date, at the best moment since the course began in August. And it is that the culés have formed a recognizable team, which has weapons to dismantle any rival and which has managed to tie together victories in recent matches. The wins over Real Sociedad, Valladolid and Sevilla have restored the confidence of a crowd that will flock to the Camp Nou to fly into a knockout qualifier of the Champions League that looks more expensive than ever this year.
The first step is to secure three crucial points against Viktoria Pilsen. For this, Xavi can count on all his players except Miralem Pjanic, with permission to discuss his imminent departure to Sharajah FC in the United Arab Emirates league, alongside recently signed Héctor Bellerín and Marcos Alonso. Ronald Araujo did come on the list, who ended the weekend’s game against Sevilla with discomfort.
The Uruguayan centre-back is available, but he will almost certainly be one of the players to drop out of an eleven in which there will be rotations reflecting the agglomeration of games ahead of the Catalans. «There was war in Seville. There is an accumulation of fatigue. People have to feel important, there is a lot of team,” assured Xavi, knowing that this year in unit B they are guaranteed to have players like Jordi Alba, Frenkie de Jong, Franck Kessié, Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati or Memphis Depay. It’s their turn. , the time to demonstrate the wardrobe that the Catalans have this year.
In contrast, a team that lands at Camp Nou with nothing to lose. Viktoria Pilsen ended up in a group where qualification is practically impossible and that is their greatest danger. They are a brave team, having reached the Champions League after three previous rounds against HJK, Sheriff and Qarabag, and have started the season like a shot. Unsurprisingly, Michal Bilek’s boys, along with Slavia Prague, are frontrunners in the Czech Republic, having played 12 games without defeat this season since returning from vacation in June.
If Viktoria Pilsen wants to add something to the Camp Nou, they will have to overcome the absences of the injured Jan Kliment, Jan Kopic and Radim Reznik. These victims will not change the plan of Michal Bilek, who will try to give the first big surprise of the Champions League and extend the poor European streak of the Catalans, who have four games without winning at home in the old continent after leaking ties last year against Benfica , Naples, Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Source: La Verdad
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