The Champions League is back at the Estadi Olimpic. After FC Barcelona began their European campaign with a disappointing 2-1 reverse at Monaco, they now need to get their bid to qualify for the knockout stages back on track as they entertain Young Boys. This is their first ever competitive fixture against a side that has dominated the Swiss championship in recent years, but has begun 2024/25 in uncharacteristically poor form.
It all gets going at 9pm CEST, and as usual we have minute by minute coverage in our Match Center, while anyone wishing to watch the match live on TV will hopefully find the right place to go by checking our international viewing guide.
Bounceback time
The defeat in Monaco was not the start that Hansi Flick had been hoping for, but that result was very much conditioned by the loss of Eric Garcia to a red card after just ten minutes of play at the Stade Louis II. Otherwise, Barça's season has been an impeccable one, with a run of seven straight wins in the league before the first reverse campaign in the the form of Saturday's 4-2 loss to Osasuna.
Meanwhile, things have gone horribly wrong for Young Boys this season. The winners of six of the last seven Swiss Super Leagues are in the highly unfamiliar territory of being second-to-last in the table with just one win to their name. And although they did well to beat Galatasaray to reach the Champions League proper, a crushing 3-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa in their first game was hardly the start they would have hoped for.
On paper, this is a game that Barça should expect to win, and win comfortably, but cliched as it might sound, Marc Casadó was quite right when he stated before the game that "there are no easy opponents in the Champions League."
Did you know?
This is the first time Barça have played a Swiss team since Basel in 2008, and is the first time they have ever played Young Boys in an official fixture. They have, however, met in six friendlies over the years. The first dates all the way back to 1913, and was the only time Young Boys actually won, while the most recent meeting was still long before most fans will be able to remember, way back in 1958.
After losing to PSG in the last game of last season's campaign and to Monaco in the first of the present one, Barça are hoping to avoid a third consecutive defeat in this competition for the first time ever.
But it would be a huge surprise if Young Boys were to win this one. They haven't won on the road in this competition since a 5-0 trouncing of Irish side Limerick way back in 1960.
If Lamine Yamal can score, he will become the first ever player under the age of 18 to do so in two consecutive Champions League matches.
Team news
With all the injury woes that Barça have had to deal with this season, it's nice to have some good news this time. Hansi Flick suggested in his pregame conference that Frenkie de Jong could well be back in the squad, and might even get to play, especially with Eric Garcia suspended because of that red card.
However, Gavi, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, Dani Olmo and Fermín López are still out.
Although Young Boys' injury problems are nothing compared to Barça's right now, they are expected to be without Saidy Janko, Patric Pfeiffer and Facinet Conte for their visit to Catalonia.
Hansi says
Speaking before the game, the Barça coach said "we have seen that Young Boys have good players and that they are strong on the counter ... We will put out the best team we have ... We must not be complacent. We want to win the first three points.”
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Marc Casadó added that "the team is ready to perform well in front of our fans and raise their hopes. But we know that Young Boys have very strong, fast players and they can hurt us on the counter attack."