Barcelona will be aiming to get their Champions League campaign off to a positive start as they host Viktoria Plzen in their opening Group C fixture. The Catalans are coming off a string of impressive results in La Liga and should be too strong for the Czech side.
Barcelona appear to have put their summer off-field problems behind them and are unbeaten this season. They head into Wednesday’s clash off the back of three straight wins.
The Catalans earned a 3-0 victory at Sevilla in La Liga last Saturday. Raphinha opened the scoring early in the contest while Robert Lewandowski and Eric Garcia added further goals to seal a comfortable win.
It is not just that Barcelona are winning, it is the manner of their victories that will be pleasing to manager Xavi as they have scored no less than three goals in each of their last three matches. The new players also appear to have settled quickly, particularly Lewandowski, who has five goals already this season.
Viktoria Plzen are making a return to the group stage of the Champions League for the first time since the 2018-19 season. They are going to have to do something remarkable to progress in a group that also includes Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.
Despite being considered the whipping boys in Group C, Viktoria Plzen will take some confidence from their showings during the qualifiers. Michal Bilek’s men went unbeaten against HJK, Sheriff Tiraspol and Qarabag to book their place in the group stage of the Champions League.
Viktoria Plzen travel to Barcelona in good form having won their last four matches across all competitions. The Czech champions claimed a 1-0 victory over Slovan Liberec in their previous fixture with Jan Sykora getting the goal.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Barcelona as overwhelming favourites with a home win priced at 1/11 with SBK. An unlikely victory for Viktoria Plzen is valued at 40/1 by Coral while a draw is set at odds of 15/1 by 10bet.
Head to head
There have been only two previous meetings between Barcelona and Viktoria Plzen with the Catalans doing the double during the group stage of the 2011-12 Champions League. They claimed a 2-0 victory at Camp Nou before running out 4-0 winners in the return fixture.
Players to watch
Robert Lewandowski has settled quickly to life at Barcelona and has already scored five goals this season. The Polish striker is priced at odds of 4/11 to get on the score sheet on Wednesday.
Barcelona have also impressed defensively with the likes of Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia catching the eye. They have kept clean sheets in three of their four matches this season and could be set for a repeat at 1/2 with Coral.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the manner of Barcelona’s one-sided victories this season, a -3 handicap could be considered at 15/8 with Paddy Power. The Catalans could also be picked to win both halves on Wednesday at 8/11 with Paddy Power.
Robert Lewandowski has opened the scoring in two of his last three matches and could be backed to score first on Wednesday at 15/8 with bet365.
This UEFA Champions League match between Barcelona and Viktoria Plzen will be played on Sep 7, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Viktoria Plzen prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
