BARCELONA and Juventus have already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League but this final group game is far from a dead rubber with a couple of intriguing sub-plots.
Not only is top spot in the group up for grabs, we should be treated to a long-awaited duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The superstars haven't faced off since Ronaldo swapped Real Madrid for Juve and the Portuguese ace was forced to sit out Barca's 2-0 victory in Turin earlier in the group (below).
Messi sealed Barcelona's win from the spot that night, bringing up my anytime scorer bet right at the death, and they haven't put a foot wrong in the group, racking up five wins.
But it has been a different story in La Liga, with a 2-1 weekend loss at Cadiz leaving them ninth in the table and 12 points off the top.
Juventus have also been out of sorts this season, with rookie boss Andrea Pirlo still trying to get his ideas across to the players.
The Italian champions only sit fourth in Serie A but they remain unbeaten in domestic action, drawing four times, and Barcelona are the only team to have beaten them all season.
How the bookies view it
With both sides in patchy form this is a tough one to call. Barcelona are slight favourites at a best 13/11 with SBK while a Juventus win is 28/11 with the same firm. The stalemate pays 11/4 at BetVictor.
Team news
Ousmane Dembele has picked up a hamstring injury and joins Ansu Fati, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto in the Barca treatment room. Defender Samuel Umtiti is a doubt with a knee problem.
Juventus are still without Merih Demiral, Giorgio Chiellini and Gianluigi Buffon but Alvaro Morata returns from a domestic suspension.
Players to watch
All the focus will be on Messi and Ronaldo and plenty of bets will centre on their duel. The Juve star offers better value for anytime scorer at 13/10 with BetVictor while Messi is 23/20 with the same firm. A double on both netting pays just under 4/1.
Skybet have some specials on their showdown and I like the look of the 10/1 on offer for Ronaldo (below) to score with a header while Messi is 7/1 to net from outside the area.
Anything else catch the eye?
Juventus need to better Barca's 2-0 win in Turin if they are to leap above the Catalans and top the group. That bodes well for an open game and I fancy a few goals. Over 2.5 goals is 7/10 with Genting while the odds increase to 7/4 with SportNation for over 3.5 strikes.
McBookie price over 1.5 first-half goals at 6/4 and that also appeals while both teams to score is a best 10/17 at SportNation. That's not great value but doubling BTTS with a goal in each half pays 143/100 at BetVictor.
This UEFA Champions League match between Barcelona and Juventus will be played on Dec 8, 2020 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Juventus prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
