Preview: Barcelona vs Eintracht Frankfurt - prediction, team news, lineups

Champions League football returns to Camp Nou after over two years as Barcelona play host to Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday, looking to respond after matchday five’s disappointing outing at Stamford Bridge.

Hansi Flick’s high line was exposed in that encounter as Barca fell 3-0 to Chelsea, while the same scoreline was seen in the Eagles’s defeat to Atalanta.

Match preview

Arguably the biggest clash of matchday five, the long-anticipated meeting between Barcelona and Chelsea ended up being more one-sided than expected, as Ronald Araujo’s 44th-minute red card made matters worse for a Blaugrana side already a goal down and struggling to find rhythm.

Second-half strikes from teenage sensation Estevao and substitute Liam Delap followed Jules Kounde’s 27th-minute own goal, with the defeat further exposing the Blaugrana’s inconsistency on the continental stage.

Barcelona have now won just one of their last four games in the Champions League (D1, L2), with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Olympiacos sandwiched between a 2-1 loss to holders Paris Saint-Germain and a 3-3 draw with Club Brugge, prior to that setback in London.

As a result, the Catalan giants, having managed just seven points from their opening five fixtures (W2, D1, L2), currently sit 18th in the 36-team table, which is unexpectedly low for a side that finished second in last season’s league phase.

The Blaugrana will now look to get their charge for automatic qualification back on course and can be confident of taking maximum points on Tuesday, buoyed by victories in each of their last three games, with 11 scored across that sequence.

Five of those came in an eight-goal thriller against Real Betis at the weekend, with a Ferran Torres hat-trick and strikes from Roony Bardghji and Lamine Yamal securing maximum points as Barcelona extended the lead at the La Liga summit to four.

Meanwhile, Barca’s free-flowing attack will sense an opportunity against a porous Frankfurt defence that has conceded 13 across their last four outings, and the problem reached its peak at Red Bull Arena at the weekend.

Dino Toppmoller’s men were beaten 6-0 by Leipzig in Saturday’s league clash, with the result leaving the Eagles without victory in their last three matches across all competitions (D2, L1), although they retained their seventh place in the Bundesliga standings.

Meanwhile, it has been a downward spiral for Frankfurt in the league phase standings, having dropped to 28th on four points, two off the playoff spot following a sequence of poor performances, with their defensive frailties again at the centre of the slide.

The setback to Atalanta on matchday five was the Eagles’s third defeat in four games in the competition; the only exception was a goalless draw at Napoli, having also suffered 5-1 losses against Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, so Toppmoller must find solutions at the back if something is to be taken from Tuesday’s clash.

History offers a glimmer of hope, however, with Frankfurt unbeaten in their only two previous meetings with Barcelona, having played out a 1-1 draw at home before emerging 3-2 winners in the reverse fixture of that quarter-final tie in the 2021-22 Europa League season.

Barcelona Champions League form:

Barcelona form (all competitions):

Eintracht Frankfurt Champions League form:

Eintracht Frankfurt form (all competitions):

Team News

Barcelona will remain without goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Gavi and Dani Olmo, as all players are ruled out due to injury issues.

Araujo is on compassionate leave, though the defender was still not expected to feature in Tuesday’s outing owing to his red card against Chelsea, so Gerard Martin could pair up with Pau Cubarsi at the heart of defence, as seen against Betis.

Meanwhile, Raphinha could return to the lineup after being named as an unused substitute last time out, meaning Marcus Rashford could make way, but the dilemma lies in attack for Flick.

Torres was exceptional in the number nine role last time out with his hat-trick and that raises the question of whether the Spaniard will start once again over veteran striker Robert Lewandowski, who remained on the bench throughout the game against Betis.

Meanwhile, the defeat to Leipzig came with extra baggage for Frankfurt, as Michy Batshuayi was forced off and will play no part on Tuesday.

That leaves Toppmoller with further injury worries in attack after the team’s top scorer, Jonathan Burkardt, limped off in the match against Atalanta, and the striker will remain sidelined for this one.

A positive from the defeat in Leipzig was the return of key midfield pair Can Uzun and Hugo Larsson to the squad after injury, so they could feature here.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Garcia; Kounde, Martin, Cubarsi, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Lewandowski

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:

Zetterer; Kristensen, Koch, Brown, Theate; Dahoud, Chaibi; Gotze, Doan, Bahoya; Knauff

We say: Barcelona 4-0 Eintracht Frankfurt

Victories in all three games since returning to Camp Nou further highlight the Blaugrana’s dominance in familiar surroundings, with 10 wins in 11 home matches this season.

Seven of those have come with multiple-goal margins, so an emphatic victory for the hosts is expected against their defensively fragile visitors.

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