English side Tottenham Hotspur will play host to struggling Barcelona in the premier match of Wednesday’s Champions League slate.
Barcelona began the season with six straight wins in all competitions, but then lost to Leganes, who currently sit in last place in La Liga, before being held to draws by both Girona and Athletic Bilbao.
Meanwhile, Tottenham have gotten off to a strong start in the English Premier League, with five wins in their first seven matches placing them fourth on the EPL table. They’ll now look to get on the board in Champions League play after losing 2-1 to Inter Milan in their first match.
Home Support Could Lift Spurs to Big Win
Tottenham striker Harry Kane says that his team can look to their 3-1 victory over Real Madrid last season in the Champions League for a blueprint on how they can grab a win against Barcelona.
“Hopefully we can produce the same energy,” Kane told reporters. “It’s going to be a full house I’m sure and if we can get them on their feet as soon as possible and create some chances, and hopefully take one or two of them early in the game, that will put us in a great position for the rest of the night.”
Meanwhile, Barca is hoping to recover from their recent missteps. According to goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, there’s no reason for the club to be worried just yet.
“This is how football goes sometimes,” Ter Stegen told ESPN FC. “There we be, like against Leganes, games we won’t be happy with, but it’s a long season and we need to get back to our strengths.”
One area of concern has been Barcelona’s defense, which has given up eight goals in its first seven La Liga matches. That’s hardly disastrous, but it does rank them only the middle of the pack for the league, and the numbers could get worse with matches against Valencia, Sevilla, and Real Madrid coming up this month.
Despite being on the road, Barcelona is still favored in Wednesday’s matchup. The visitors have been given 10/11 odds of winning the match by Paddy Power, while bettors can back Tottenham to win at 11/4 – or get the exact same odds on a drawn match.
Real Madrid Stunned by CSKA Moscow
Tuesday’s Champions League slate produced the most surprising result of the competition so far this year. Three-time defending champions Real Madrid lost 1-0 to CSKA Moscow, as an early goal by Nikola Vlasic held up even after a ferocious attacking effort from the Spanish visitors. That result leaves CSKA on top of Group G, with Real and Roma tied for second, one point behind.
Meanwhile, Manchester United continued its disappointing start to the season, as they played to a relatively lifeless 0-0 draw with Valencia at Old Trafford. The most interesting aspect of the match came before kickoff, as United only arrived at the stadium 45 minutes before the game was set to begin, delaying the start of the action by five minutes.
Embattled manager Jose Mourinho blamed the lack of a police escort, but the Greater Manchester Police disputed that account, saying that the team knew well in advance that such an escort would not be offered.
In other Wednesday Champions League action, Napoli will host Liverpool, while Inter Milan visits PSV Eindhoven.
