Champions League matches will once again reign supreme in European football stadiums today. As the battle for advancement to the next stage intensifies before the fifth round of group stages, each point becomes more and more crucial. Tonight, eight matches from Groups E-H will take place, with two matches in Russia and Belarus starting earlier than usual - at 7:00 PM.
The most popular football news portal in the country, "Eurofootball.com", shared their thoughts on the Barcelona team and their upcoming match against Roma in Spain on Tuesday with sports journalist Aurimas Budraitis.
- You must have seen the last Barcelona club match against Madrid's Real team. What impressed you the most about the Catalan team's game?
- When you score four goals without conceding at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the whole orchestra must be in tune. We can't talk about what was good or bad in Barcelona's game against Barcos. We can talk about what was good and what was very good. In these matches, unequal teams met. Although it's unclear what would have happened if the match took place today.
- Despite the absence of team leader L. Messi for a long time, Barcelona not only managed to stay in first place in the Spanish La Liga but also gained an advantage of several points over their closest competitors - Real Madrid players. Does Barcelona's performance surprise you?
- Yes. I am one of those who believe that Barca is most dependent on Leo. In February, I watched Barcelona's match against Malaga at the Camp Nou stadium. That time L.Messi played well below his abilities and Barca lost.
- Barcelona's offense has recently been shining with L. Suarez and Neymar, while Roma has conceded 9 goals in their last three Champions League matches. Can we expect very productive matches?
- I don't really like to look at these numbers because things usually happen opposite to what everyone thinks. I myself guessed that Barcelona would win 3:1, but I wouldn't be surprised if the match ended, for example, 1:0.
- What should Roma demonstrate today to cause a sensation at the Camp Nou stadium and take at least one point back from Spain?
- They should be extremely lucky, and Barcelona should not have fully recovered from the celebrations after the victory against Real Madrid. In essence, there are no factors that could make Roma equal to them.
- The fact that Barca already has one foot in the next stage of the competition, while Roma needs every point to reach the quarterfinals, could it help the Italian team in the battle against Luis Enrique's team?
- If Barcelona had secured the first place in the group, it might have helped. But I definitely don't believe it now.
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
