Is there a more impregnatable fortress in all of sport than Barcelona’s Nou Camp?? When Real Betis beat the Catalans on 13 November 2018 in a La Liga fixture it was the first time in more than two years that they had tasted league defeat on their home patch.
One might think that having impressive home form in your local league is a given. However frighteningly for Liverpool – the last time Barcelona lost a UEFA Champions League fixture on home soil was on 01 May 2013 against Bayern Munich!
Of course it’s not all doom and gloom for Liverpool either. Domestically the Reds have only suffered one league defeat during the entire 2018/19 season. Beaten finalist last year the men from Merseyside are in a rich vein of form and playing the best football the club’s fans have seen in more than a decade.
What can we expect: Clearly we have two in-form teams getting ready to duel things out.With the aggregate over the two home and away games determining who proceeds to the big dance, Liverpool will know that a draw is all that is required in Spain since the Reds have themselves been near invincible at Anfield. Klopp prefers an attacking approach but his team are also lethal counter attackers so one can expect the visitors to rein in their attacking approach somewhat and rely on their effective approach of switching from defense to attack within the blink of an eye to try and steal a vital away goal. For all their success Barcelona have never been renowned for their impregnatable defensive organisation.
Both teams are having a stellar season. Liverpool might be close to accepting that despite an incredible domestic campaign they might yet end up the bridesmaid in England and as such could mentally be reverting to throwing everything at becoming the champions of Europe. Despite their stellar year and great form I just don’t see them beating the unbeatables at their fortress.
My bets with BETOLIMP:
I expect things to start tight and tactical thus –No goal in first half @ 3.35
I see the game opening up in the second stint thus – Both teams to score in 2nd Half YES @ 2.93
(Note, odds quoted are subject to change)
