Viktoria Plzen vs Barcelona – Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Odds, Prediction

Gerard Pique of FC Barcelona celebrates - IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Gerard Pique of FC Barcelona celebrates - IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Barcelona will look to bow out of the UEFA Champions League with a win when they travel to Czech Republic this Tuesday to face Viktoria Plzen.

Venue: Doosan Arena (Plzen)

Key Statistics

Viktoria Plzeň have conceded 20 goals in this UEFA Champions League campaign.

They have seen the half-time result replicated at full-time in 12 of their last 15 matches.

Barcelona have won their last three UCL trips to Czech Republic.

They are winless in their last four UCL games (D1, L3).

They have lost three of their last five away games in all competitions (W2).

Head to head

Barcelona have won all three of the head-to-head meetings between both sides.

Latest performances in all competitions

Plzeň: W-L-W-L-W

Barcelona: W-L-W-W-L

Viktoria Plzeň

Viktoria Plzeň will look to avoid being on the wrong side of history when they welcome Barcelona to Doosan Arena on Tuesday.

The hosts have endured a terrible run in the UCL this year, losing all five of their group games so far. They have conceded 20 times and only recorded their first two-goal outing in the last round when they were beaten 4-2 by Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

Ahead of this game, the Czech side will be looking to avoid becoming the 23rd team to lose all six matches of a UCL group campaign. There is another dubious record they wouldn’t want to become known for either, which is the record of conceding the most goals in the group stage of the UCL.

Having already shipped in 20 goals, should Barcelona put at least four more goals past them as they did when they beat them 5-1 in the reverse fixture, the hosts will share the record for most goals conceded (24) in a single UCL group stage campaign.

They will be keen to avoid such a record, especially in front of their fans who will be desperate for them to give them something to cheer about having watched their side score two against Bayern Munich.

But for all their trouble in Europe, they are having a good time in their domestic league, with a 3-0 win over Zlin at the weekend putting them further ahead of the chasing back in the Czech league. The hope will be for them to replicate that form in Europe and now out on a high note having already been declared group losers.

Tenhle rychlík 🏃 má na svědomí 3 asistence a 2 góly v posledních 4 ligových zápasech 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8b4GukKfnu
— FC Viktoria Plzeň (@fcviktorkaplzen) October 29, 2022

Possible Plzeň starting line-up

Marian Tvrdon; Milan Havel, Lukas Hejda, Ludek Pernica, Vaclav Jemelka; Pavel Bucha, Lukas Kalvach; Erik Jirka, Adam Vivanova, Vaclav Pilar; Tomas Chory.

Injured: Reznik, Jan Sykora, Mohamed Tijani, Jan Kopic, Filip Kasa, Radim Reznik

Doubtful: None

Suspended: Jhon Mosquera

Barcelona

Like their hosts, Barcelona are also looking to bow out of the UEFA Champions League in style ahead of their meeting in Plzen.

But unlike the Czech side, Barca have much more to protect than just bowing out in style. The Catalan side have already made bad history by failing to qualify for the knockout round of the UCL for two consecutive seasons after winning just one of their opening five group games.

The win came in a 5-1 win against Plzen on Matchday One. Since then, Xavi’s men have suffered three losses and one draw leaving them in danger of going four UCL games without a win.

Also, having already lost away to Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, another unlikely defeat here will make it four UCL competition proper away losses in a row for the first time since October 1997. However, that record may stand the test of time considering that the visitors have enjoyed their travels to the Czech Republic, winning on their last three UCL trips to this nation.

And after a tight 1-0 La Liga win at the weekend, a result that kept Barcelona within a point of league leaders Real Madrid, the visitors should feel reasonably confident of finishing their UCL campaign on a high.