Preview:Barcelona Women vs. Brann Women - prediction, team news, lineups

On Thursday, Barcelona Women will welcome Brann Women to the Estadi Johan Cruyff for the second leg of their Women's Champions League title.

The reigning European champions currently have the upper hand after claiming a 2-1 victory in last week's first leg.

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Match preview

Barcelona are well set to advance from a fifth consecutive Champions League quarter-final after they enjoyed a successful trip to Norway last week.

Caroline Graham Hansen saw her opener cancelled out by Cecilie Kvamme, before Salma Paralluelo scored her sixth European goal of the season to secure a narrow victory.

The Catalan giants followed that result with a comprehensive 3-0 win in Sunday's Clasico with rivals Real Madrid thanks to goals from Fridolina Rolfo, Aitana Bonmati and Graham Hansen.

Barcelona, who are yet to lose a competitive game this season, have now won seven consecutive matches, scoring 26 times and conceding just three goals during that winning run.

The hosts will certainly be confident of protecting their first-leg advantage, having gone five years without suffering a home defeat since losing to Sporting Club Huelva in February 2019.

Brann are competing in the quarter-finals after finishing second in their first-ever appearance in the Champions League group stage.

The Norwegian side took 13 points from their six matches to finish above Slavia Prague and St Polten, while they were only one point adrift of record European champions Lyon.

After playing out a draw in their home game with Lyon, Brann threatened to claim another positive result against a European heavyweight in the first leg of their quarter-final clash with two-time Champions League winners Barcelona.

However, they ultimately fell just short in their first outing in the European knockout rounds, losing a home game for the first time in the Champions League this season.

With no game at the weekend, Martin Ho's side have had time to reflect on the first leg and prepare for Thursday's away trip, where they will attempt to pull off a major upset and become the first team to beat Barcelona since Madrid CFF in May 2023.

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Team News

Barcelona are expected to be without goalkeeper Gemma Font as well as the defensive duo of Mapi Leon and Jana Fernandez.

Lucy Bronze and Mariona Caldentey are set to return to the lineup after dropping down to the bench for Sunday's Clasico.

Graham Hansen will keep her place in the front three, and she will be looking to continue her fine goalscoring form, having found the net in each of her last four appearances.

As for the Norwegian visitors, they are still unable to call upon long-term absentees Nanne Ruskanen and Rikke Nygard.

Amalie Eikeland could be considered for a starting berth after coming off the bench to play the final 35 minutes against Barcelona.

After coming into the side last week, Australian forward Larissa Crummer is likely to keep her place in the Brann forward line.

Barcelona Women possible starting lineup: Coll; Bronze, Paredes, Engen, Rolfo; Guijarro, Walsh, Bonmati; Graham Hansen, Caldentey, Paralluelo

Brann Women possible starting lineup: Mikalsen; Stenevik, Ostenstad, Tynnila; Kvamme, Kielland, Haugland, Lund; Eikeland, Gaupset, Crummer

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We say: Barcelona Women 4-0 Brann Women

Brann showed great character to run Barcelona close in the first leg, but the difficulty level will increase in an away game against the reigning European champions.

The hosts rarely falter on home turf, and we think that they will showcase their abundance of world-class quality to claim a comfortable victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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