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One of the pre-tournament favourites FC Barcelona will begin their UCL campaign away at Signal Iduna Park. They will face Borussia Dortmund in the Group F clash in the opening fixture. Ernesto Valverde’s men came back to winning ways by smashing five past newly managed Valencia side, registering consecutive home wins in the process.
Starlet Ansu Fati impressed again, as he scored one goal and assisted another, creating a record of being the youngest player in La Liga history to score a goal and deliver an assist in the same game, at the age of just 16 years and 318 days. He is the right replacement for talisman Lionel Messi, who is fighting for a return, post his Injury. New signing Antoine Griezmann also contributed with a good performance, despite not being on the score-sheet, as Barcelona climbed up to the fifth spot in the La Liga standings.
Their counterparts Borussia Dortmund overcame Bayer Leverkusen winning 4-0 at home, after suffering a surprise defeat to Union Berlin in the previous game. Ex-Barcelona striker Paco Alcacer continued his terrific scoring form. He netted his fifth goal in four consecutive games. Captain Marco Rues also showed his class, as his brace helped Dortmund climb over Bayern (8 pts) to the second spot with 9 points.
Lucian Favre must be happy to see his defence register the first clean sheet of the season, after conceding in each of the last three games. The odds on BigPesa portray Barca to be the favourites to win this tie though, at odds of 2.34
Last Meeting
These two met only twice in European competition in the two-legged UEFA Super cup back in 1998. Barcelona emerged victorious first, winning 2-0 at home and the second game ended in a 1-1 draw. However, this will be the first-ever meeting between these sides in the Champions League.
The tie is in favour of the visitors with odds of 2.34, while a Dortmund win is placed at 3.1. BigPesa further adds that the possibility of a draw has odds of 3.9.
A win for the visitors?
With the news that Lionel Messi won’t be featuring for the Spanish champions in this game, it makes the clash a curious one for the Barcelona fans. However, Luis Suarez’s sharpness after his return from injury will give much more optimism to manager Ernesto Valverde. He must be desperate to get his team the title they are craving for four long seasons now.
BigPesa suggests that the game will have goals, with the odds of 2-3 goals being scored are at 2.09. This is a positive sign for the fans as they will get an opportunity to witness a lot of quality attackers.
