Monday 28 September 2015

Barcelona - Bayer Leverkusen Preview.


The Spanish and European champions have been consistently letting in goals this season and this visit of the German side should see both teams scoring at the Camp Nou

After Barcelona lost 4-1 to Celta Vigo last week, a home clash against newly-promoted Las Palmas ought to have been the perfect opportunity to restore normality.

The Catalans won the game 2-1, but an injury sustained by Lionel Messi in the eighth minute - a knee ligament problem which will keep him sidelined for at least two months - dealt the club another crushing blow.

The Blaugrana's squad is already lacking depth following the sale of Pedro to Chelsea and Rafinha's injury, while their transfer ban means new signings Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan aren't eligible until January.

Now Luis Enrique will be without the side's most important player for up to two months, which couldn't come at a worse time with a number of important fixtures coming up - starting with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Catalans have already played 10 competitive games so far this season but have kept just two clean sheets, conceding in each of their last five games.

Three sides have scored four goals against Barca already (Sevilla in the Uefa Super Cup, Athletic in the Spanish Super Cup and Celta in La Liga) and those kinds of statistics will be of concern for Luis Enrique.

Leverkusen, meanwhile, arrive in Catalonia in decent form having recorded successive Bundesliga victories as well as a 4-1 win in their opening match in Group E against BATE Borisov.

Roger Schmidt's side have lost three of their first seven games in the German top flight but it is worth remembering that two of those were against Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, the division's stand out sides.

However, as previously mentioned, the Blaugrana have conceded in eight of their 10 games so far this season, with both teams to score paying out in their matchday one fixture against Roma. This bet also comfortably paid out in Leverkusen's first game in the tournament, and it seems likely to do so once more at the Camp Nou.

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