Barcelona will be looking to recover from their first La Liga setback of the season as they continue their Champions League campaign on Tuesday night, hosting Swiss side Young Boys.The Catalan giants suffered a 2-1 defeat to Monaco in their opening Champions League fixture earlier this month, while Young Boys were beaten 3-0 by Aston Villa.Barcelona began their 2024-25 La Liga season in blistering form, winning seven consecutive matches. However, their perfect start was halted last Saturday with a 4-2 defeat to Osasuna. This marked Barcelona’s second loss of the season, as they had also fallen to Monaco in their first European match, a game in which Eric Garcia was sent off in the first half.Despite injuries to key players, manager Hansi Flick has received praise for Barcelona’s strong early-season form, but pressure is mounting on the team to respond on Tuesday. The team’s injury list has been substantial, and Flick has had to navigate these challenges effectively.Gunners reloading their strongest weapon for the clash against high-flying PSGBarcelona’s Champions League journey ended in the quarter-finals last season, but they were eliminated at the group stage in both 2022-23 and 2021-22. They haven’t reached a European Cup semi-final since 2018-19, and their last title win in the competition was in 2014-15 — an unusually long drought for a club of their stature.With a tricky La Liga clash against Alaves looming next weekend, Barcelona will be mindful not to overlook the importance of their European ambitions.Young Boys, meanwhile, struggled in their opening Champions League game, falling to Aston Villa, and now face the tough task of visiting Barcelona. The reigning Swiss champions are coming off a 1-0 loss to Grasshoppers on Saturday, leaving them in 11th place in their domestic league with just six points from eight matches.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Young Boys have yet to advance past the Champions League group stage in their history. Although they finished third in their group last season and dropped into the Europa League, they were eliminated by Sporting Lisbon. This season’s campaign sees them facing a tough stretch, with Italian giants Inter Milan up next.Despite their challenges, Young Boys will take encouragement from Barcelona’s injury woes. The Swiss side, led by standout player Joel Monteiro, who has five goals and seven assists in 13 appearances this season, will look to capitalize on any vulnerabilities.⭐️ Training Focus: @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/UxHPPLqJJP— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 30, 2024 Barcelona will be without suspended Garcia and seven injured players, including Fermin Lopez, Dani Olmo, Marc Bernal, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo, Gavi, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen. There’s a chance that Frenkie de Jong, yet to feature this season due to an ankle injury, could make the squad.Flick is expected to make several changes, with Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casado, and Inigo Martinez likely to start.For Young Boys, Saidy Janko, Patric Pfeiffer, and Facinet Conte will miss the match due to injury. However, Patrick Rahmen’s squad is otherwise in good shape, and they will be looking to Silvere Ganvoula, who has netted four times this season, and Monteiro to lead their attack.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 2Tuesday19:45: (1.80) Salzburg (3.60) Brest (4.60)19:45: (1.45) Stuttgart (4.50) Sparta Praha (7.00)22:00: (1.75) Leverkusen (3.70) Milan (4.70)22:00: (1.50) Dortmund (4.30) Celtic (6.50)22:00: (1.10) Barcelona (11.0) Young Boys (18.0)22:00: (1.20) Inter (7.75) Crvena Zvezda (18.0)22:00: (1.85) Arsenal (3.70) PSG (4.70)22:00: (35.0) Slovan B. (14.0) Man.City (1.05)22:00: (2.60) PSV (3.50) Sporting (2.80)Wednesday19:45: (2.10) Girona (3.60) Feyenoord (3.60)19:45: (5.30) Shakhtar (3.60) Atalanta (1.70)22:00: (5.30) Dinamo Zagreb (3.60) Monaco (1.70)22:00: (6.00) Lille (4.10) Real Madrid (1.55)22:00: (3.00) Benfica (3.45) Atl.Madrid (2.50)22:00: (4.60) Aston Villa (3.80) Bayern (1.75)22:00: (2.40) RB Leipzig (3.45) Juventus (3.15)22:00: (1.20) Liverpool (6.75) Bologna (14.0)22:00: (2.80) Sturm (3.40) Club Brugge (2.65)***odds are subject to change***
