| Tuesday’s action in the UEFA Champions League (CL) will feature a clash of European heavyweights, as Chelsea host Barcelona at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of this round-of-16 tie. Despite the fact that these are two of the biggest clubs in Europe, their form has been quite the opposite during the current season. |
| Los Blaugranas sit at the top of the La Liga standings and remain the only undefeated side in any of Europe’s top five leagues. They cruised through the Champions League group stage and finished top of Group D with 14 points. |
| Chelsea won the Premier League (PL) last season, but things have changed this term and they currently sit in fourth place - 19 points behind league-leaders Manchester City. In the CL, they finished second in Group C with 11 points, behind Roma but ahead of Atletico Madrid. |
| The last time these two sides met in the CL was in the semifinals of the 2011-12 season. Chelsea won 3-2 on aggregate, and they would go on to win the title against Bayern Munich. |
| In fact, these two sides have played against each other in 12 CL matches since 2000, and the Blues have a slight edge over Los Blaugranas (W4, D5, L3). Barca have not defeated Chelsea in the last seven meetings between these two, though (D5, L2). |
| Players to watch: Lionel Messi only scored three times during the CL group stage, but he remains Barca’s biggest attacking threat. The five-time Ballon D’Or winner has 23 goals and 12 assists in 30 appearances (LL and CL). |
| Eden Hazard is Chelsea’s star attacking player, and the Belgian has 15 goals and four assists this season, including six goals in his last six matches across all competitions. |
| Stat attack: Four of the last five matches between these two sides have ended in a draw. Only two of the last seven have seen over 2.5 goals scored. |
| Barcelona are riding an eight-game undefeated run in all competitions, where they have conceded just two goals while scoring 15 times. |
13
Courtois T. (G)
|
1
ter Stegen M. (G)
|
3
Alonso M.
|
18
Alba J.
|
28
Azpilicueta C. (C)
|
5
Busquets S.
|
27
Christensen A.
|
8
Iniesta A. (C)
|
4
Fabregas C.
|
10
Messi L.
|
10
Hazard E.
|
15
Paulinho
|
7
Kante N.
|
3
Pique G.
|
15
Moses V.
|
4
Rakitic I.
|
11
Pedro
|
20
Roberto S.
|
2
Rudiger A.
|
9
Suarez L.
|
22
Willian
|
23
Umtiti S.
|
| Missing Players | |
Bakayoko T.
(Knock)
|
Jose A.
(Groin Injury)
|
Luiz D.
(Knock)
|
Semedo N.
(Yellow Cards)
|
| Coaches | |
Conte A.
|
Valverde E.
|