UEFA Champions League | Wednesday 6 November | Camp Nou | 21:45
Clash Of The Titans
Barcelona and AC Milan lock horns at the Nou Camp in Wednesday night’s Champions League Group H showdown with the Italians desperate to put their domestic woes behind them.
To Win (90mins)
Barcelona 1/5
Draw 11/2
AC Milan 12/1
BARCELONA
Barcelona will be looking to put one foot in the Champions League knock-out round when they welcome AC Milan to the Nou Camp on Wednesday evening.
The Catalan giants are currently sitting pretty at the top of Group H, two points clear of second-placed Milan after the opening three rounds of fixtures, while Celtic are a further two adrift in third and Ajax Amsterdam sit bottom with just a single point.
Gerardo Martino’s men are also setting the pace in the Liga, where they sit one point clear at the top after winning 11 and drawing one of their opening 12 top-flight matches.
The Spanish champions are unbeaten and Friday’s 1-0 triumph against Espanyol in the Barcelona derby lifted them one point clear of Atletico Madrid in the table.
Lionel Messi will be hoping to end his goalscoring drought against Milan.
The Argentina striker, whose last goal came in a 1-1 draw at AC Milan on October 21, has not found the back of the net in the last four league games – his longest barren spell in two years.
Messi will start alongside Neymar and in-form Alexis Sanchez, whose solitary goal against Espanyol handed his side their third-straight league win.
AC MILAN
Milan go into the match having endured their worst start to Serie A in 31 years.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Fiorentina was Milan’s fifth loss of the season and left them 11th in the standings with 12 points from 10 games.
The Rossoneri have endured a torrid Serie A campaign, having won just three of their opening 11 matches. They are already a whopping 19 points off the pace of undefeated league leaders Roma and only three clear of the relegation zone.
Massimiliano Allegri will now be desperate to stave his side’s run of results, having failed to win any of their last three league outings, while the reverse clash against Barcelona in October finished in a 1-1 draw.
In contrast, Milan’s form in Europe has been solid with the Rossoneri unbeaten and chasing first place in the pool against the Spaniards.
Allegri’s side stand second in the group with five points, two points above Celtic, who are third.
Milan will be bolstered by the return of defender Philippe Mexes from suspension.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Kaka will play in support of Mario Balotelli and Valter Birsa in Milan’s attack.
Betting Verdict: BARCELONA
On the team front, neither side are dealing with too many absentees, with the hosts still without injured duo Adriano and Jordi Alba, although the Italians travel to Spain three light as Matias Silvestre, Mattia De Sciglio and Daniele Bonera all miss out. Barcelona should take the win, but there isn’t much value there. Rather go for both teams to score at 1/1.
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