The Catalan giants have already qualified for the Champions League round of 16 and may field a rather unusual starting XI.
Team news
Barcelona
- Barcelona will miss 5 players through injury: Gerard Pique, Ronald Araujo, Samuel Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, and Ansu Fati.
- Leo Messi, Philippe Coutinho and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are rested.
Ferencvaros
- Ferencvaros have all their players available.
Key stats
- Barcelona have won all 4 games in the Champions League so far this season, scoring 13 goals and conceding 2.
- Ferencvaros have suffered 3 defeats and got a draw against Dynamo Kyiv.
- The reverse fixture between the two sides resulted with a 5-1 win for Barca.
Probable line-ups
Barca XI: Neto; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Pjanic; Dembele; Griezmann, Pedri, Braithwaite.
Ferencvaros XI: Dibusz; Botka, Frimpong, Blazic, Kovacevic, Heister; Zubkov, Somalia, Siger, Nguen; Baturina (h/t Sports Mole).
Manager quotes
💬 Ronald Koeman (Barca): “It will be a difficult match, they have quality players and speed in attack. Our defence must be focused, we must control their attacking moves and look to do damage in the spaces we find in their half.” (h/t Marca)
💬 Serhiy Rebrov (Ferencvaros): “I think we have gained good experience against the best teams in the world in recent weeks. It will all benefit us, and it can give players confidence. The most important thing is to be competitive at this level, it is more important than the result.” (h/t Fradi.hu)
Predictions
Sports Mole‘s Ben Knapton: Ferencvaros 1-4 Barcelona
“Ferencvaros can certainly afford to feel optimistic about their chances of notching up at least one goal against a ravaged Barcelona defence, but the Blaugrana’s quality in the final third will certainly show, and the Catalan giants should march to a straightforward victory.”
90min‘s James Merrills: Ferencvaros 0-3 Barcelona
“Even without Messi, Barcelona have more than enough firepower to see off Ferencvaros. It will be a good opportunity to give players minutes but Koeman will be keen not to pick up any more injuries.”
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