On Wednesday, the A-D group matches of the UEFA Champions League will continue. Sixteen teams will face each other at eight stadiums across the Old Continent. Undoubtedly, the most attention will be on the match at 'Wembley' stadium, where London's 'Tottenham' will host the Spanish football giant - 'Barcelona' club. Both teams cannot boast the best results this season, but tonight the expectation is to see top-level football. The teams will kick off at 22:00. Teams' Results In the Champions League, only one of these two teams managed to start victoriously - 'Barca'. Ernesto Valverde's students had no difficulty at home against PSV Eindhoven, while London's 'Tottenham' lost to Milan's 'Inter' at the very end of the match. The 'Spurs' situation requires points - a loss in front of their fans and another 'Inter' victory slightly complicates their chances to fight for a spot in the knockout stage. After a shaky start to the season in Milan, Mauricio Pochettino's students woke up - three victories were won out of the possible, however, only one of them was convincing. At first, 'Tottenham' defeated 'Brighton' 2-1 away, then won in the League Cup after a penalty shootout against 'Watford', and finally sealed an impressive victory by beating 'Huddersfield' 2-0 in the Premier League. After a difficult start to the season, the main architect of 'Tottenham's' victories - Harry Kane, started catching form. The Englishman scored three goals in the last two Premier League matches and left no doubts with his performance. If 'Tottenham' started winning on the domestic front after a poor start in the Champions League, then everything happened the other way around for the 'Barcelona' team - no victories were achieved in the last three matches. The Catalans only managed to gather two points in La Liga in the last three attempts - draws against 'Girona' and 'Athletic Bilbao' and a surprising loss to the league's bottom team 'Leganes'. Ernesto Valverde should not be satisfied with the team's defensive performance - many individual errors led to five goals conceded in the last three matches. Despite unsatisfactory recent results, 'Barca' still remains at the top of the Spanish championship - level on points with Madrid's 'Real'. 'Tottenham's' situation is also not bad - fourth position and a 4-point gap from the leaders. Teams' News 'Tottenham' will be unable to field their strongest lineup against 'Barca' - 'Spurs' will be missing as many as four starting players. It has already been announced that Dele Alli, Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen, Moussa Dembele, and Serge Aurier will be unavailable for the team. The team captain Hugo Lloris is back in the squad and ready to help. Without him, 'Spurs' had to cope in the first round of the Champions League. There are not many surprises expected from 'Tottenham' - it is believed that they will play in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Lucas Moura in a false forward position. The defensive midfield should be Eric Dier and Harry Winks, while Davinson Sanchez will replace J. Vertonghen in defense. 'Barca' does not have many problems, however, the absence of Samuel Umtiti due to injury is a significant loss. The Frenchman is a key player in the Catalans' defense and his absence makes the position even more vulnerable. E. Valverde's decision did not take new signing Malcom with the team to London, as he was snatched from under 'Roma's' nose. It is predicted that Ousmane Dembele will be left on the bench for this match, and 'Barca' will return to last season's tactics - a 4-4-2 formation. Philippe Coutinho will take the Frenchman's place in midfield, while the injured S. Umtiti will be replaced by the struggling Clement Lenglet. Predicted Starting Lineups: 'Tottenham': (4-2-3-1) Lloris; Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Rose; Dier, Winks; Moura, Lamela, Son; Kane. 'Barcelona': (4-4-2) Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Vidal, Rakitić, Busquets, Coutinho; Messi, Suárez. Interesting Facts These two teams met in Europe a long time ago - in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup winners' Cup in the 1981-82 season. The first leg at 'White Hart Lane' stadium ended in a 1-1 draw, but 'Barca' won the return match by a minimal margin, advancing to the final, which they won against 'Standard Liege'. Mauricio Pochettino's students were unbeatable in front of their home fans in the group stage last season - they won against Madrid's 'Real', Dortmund's 'Borussia', and APOEL Nicosia. Last season, the victory against Madrid's 'Real' (3-1) was the first time 'Tottenham' played against opponents from Spain - there were two draws and three losses. 'Tottenham's' best performance in the Champions League came in the 2010-11 season - they reached the quarter-finals, where Madrid's 'Real' dismantled them with a 5-0 scoreline. 'Barcelona' has already won the Champions League group stage 11 seasons in a row and never finishes their journey in the tournament earlier than the quarter-finals. The last time Ernesto Valverde's team visited London was last season, where they faced 'Chelsea' in the quarter-finals. The match in the capital ended in a 1-1 draw, but in the return leg, the opponents had no chances and lost 3-0. For Luis Suarez, 'Tottenham' is a favorable opponent - during his time at 'Liverpool', he scored four goals in seven matches against the 'Spurs'.
