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Chelsea vs Barcelona seemed to be a recurring match-up once upon a time but Tuesday’s showdown at Stamford Bridge is the first time they’ve locked horns since a Lionel Messi double secured a 3-0 victory at the Nou Camp in March 2018.
That put Barca into the quarter-finals after a 4-1 win on aggregate but it may come as a surprise that Chelsea hadn’t lost any of the previous eight matches against the Catalans.
Enzo Maresca’s men go into this one in good health domestically after three straight Premier League wins lifted them to second.
But in the Champions League it’s been more of a mixed bag after two wins, a draw and a loss.
It’s the exact same story with Barcelona. Like Chelsea, they’re second in their domestic league while they too have seven points in this competition via a pair of wins, a draw and a defeat.
Continuing the parity, both go into the game on the back of a win. Chelsea eased to a 2-0 success at Burnley on Saturday while Barca thumped Athletic Bilbao 4-0 the same day.
How to watch Chelsea vs Barcelona
Chelsea vs Barcelona kicks off at 8pm (UK) on Tuesday, November 25 at Stamford Bridge.
The game will be shown live on Amazon Prime, with coverage starting from 7pm. Chelsea are our team to watch this week.
BBC Radio 5 Live will provide full match commentary.
Chelsea team news
Chelsea still have their share of injuries with Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill and Romeo Lavia three of the star names who Maresca continues to be without.
Liam Delap should be handed another chance to start up front after getting the nod against Burnley.
Centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo may also be retained from the Turf Moor win, although Wesley Fofana is perhaps the favourite to come back in after being rested.
Reece James came off at half-time against Burnley but it emerged that the move was planned to manage his minutes. Expect him to start here.
Chelsea expected line-up
(4-2-3-1) Sanchez; James, Cucurella, Chalobah, Fofana; Caicedo, Fernandez; Garnacho, Neto, Joao Pedro; Delap
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Barcelona team news
Marcus Rashford is the big concern for Barca as he’s doubtful due to illness.
The last time Rashford returned to British shores he scored a double in Barca’s 2-1 win at Newcastle so the England star would be a miss.
Better news in attack is that Raphinha should be available again after coming off the bench in the win over Athletic following a hamstring injury.
Pedri and Gavi are both still absent with hamstring and knee injuries, respectively but Frenkie de Jong will be back after serving a domestic suspension.
Barcelona expected line-up
(4-2-3-1) J. Garcia; Kounde, E. Garcia, Cubarsi, Balde; de Jong, Casado; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski
Chelsea vs Barcelona stats
– Chelsea have only lost one of their last nine meetings with Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League (W2 D6).
– Barcelona have only won away to Chelsea on one of eight previous attempts in Europe (D2 L5): a 2-1 victory in February 2006 in the UEFA Champions League.
– Since 2013-14, Barcelona have only lost two of their nine away games against English sides in the UEFA Champions League (W6 D1).
– English teams have won nine of their last 10 games against Spanish sides in the UEFA Champions League (L1), with the only exception being Barcelona’s win at Newcastle in September (2-1).
– Barcelona have scored in each of their last 24 games in the UEFA Champions League (67 goals in total); the longest current run by any team.
– Barcelona have been shown the most yellow cards (12) in the UEFA Champions League this season, despite making the fifth-fewest fouls (37) so far.
– In terms of average age, Chelsea have the youngest starting XI in the UEFA Champions League this season (23y 278d).
Chelsea vs Barcelona predictions
While Barcelona have been perfect at home in La Liga this season (six wins out of six), their away form has been patchy.
They’ve lost twice, to Sevilla (4-1) and Real Madrid (2-1), while the theme of their road trips in recent times has been goals.
In their last two away games, they played out a 3-3 draw in this tournament against Club Brugge before following that with a 4-2 La Liga win at Celta Vigo.
They’re the highest away scorers in La Liga this season with 16 goals from seven matches so it’s fair to predict an entertaining tie at Stamford Bridge.
The market reflects that though with Over 3.5 as short as Even money (1/1) so the best bets may be backing goalscorers.
Lamine Yamal has scored in his last two away games and in four of six on the road this season so the 11/5 for the teenager to strike again could be a smart play.
Barca’s high line will likely suit Chelsea too so back Blues speedster Pedro Neto to score at 10/3.
The Portuguese forward has netted in two of his last three away games.