Overview
The match between Chelsea and Barcelona is considered the focus of this week's UEFA Champions League. This is also the only match in the 5th round that gathers two seeds in Group 1.
The nature of the match became even more important when both teams were only 2 points behind the top 8. Since each team has met a representative from the No. 1 seed group, this is considered their biggest remaining challenge in theory.
Both Chelsea and Barcelona are aiming for more positive results after losing to their previous "big guys". Chelsea lost 1-3 to Bayern Munich, while Barcelona fell 1-2 at home to Paris Saint-Germain.
However, given their away form in England, Barca have reason to be confident. They have lost just two of their last nine away games against English sides in the Champions League, winning six. Those two defeats came against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in November 2016 (1-3) and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in May 2019 (04) respectively.
Chelsea expect the recent impressive form of the Premier League representatives before La Liga to bring an advantage. English sides have won nine of their last 10 matches against Spanish clubs in the Champions League, except for Newcastle's 1-2 defeat to Barcelona in September.
Since that match, the English teams have won all 4 consecutive matches and have not conceded a goal against La Liga representatives. Including Arsenal 4-0 Atletico Madrid, Villarreal 0-2 Man City, Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid, Newcastle 2-0 Athletic Club.
Bara's victory at St James' Park bears the mark of Marcus Rashford, who scored a double and is in good form in the Champions League with 4 goals and 1 assist after 4 matches.
In Barcelona's history, only Hristo Stoichkov has been involved in more goals in his first five games in the competition, with five goals and three assists in 1994.
Although Rashford's statistics are still modest compared to the Bulgarian legend, this is still an impressive achievement for a rookie in the context of the Barcelona squad always having many top attacking stars.
Rashford's excellent form has helped Barcelona score in 24 consecutive matches in the Champions League, with a total of 67 goals - the longest scoring streak of any team in the tournament at the moment.
Coach Hansi Flick has also maintained an impressive record, having never seen his team fail to score in 36 Champions League games (18 against Bayern Munich and 18 against Barcelona).
That consistent streak of goals will give Barcelona a great chance to defeat a Chelsea team devastated by a storm of injuries. Cole Palmer is the most notable absentee, along with Levi Colwill, Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia - who will also not be able to participate in this match.
Head-to-head record
The recent history of confrontations has largely favoured Chelsea, especially every time Barcelona traveled west of London.
The Blues have lost just one of their last nine meetings with Barcelona in the Champions League, although six of those ended in draws. The only defeat in this period was a 0-3 loss at Camp Nou in March 2018 - the result that left Chelsea out of the round of 16 with a total score of 1-4.
In their last eight visits to Chelsea in European competition, Barcelona have won just one and lost all year. The only win came in February 2006, when the Catalan team came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to an own goal by John personal and the decisive goal by Samuel Eto'o.
Score prediction: Chelsea 2-2 Barcelona
The match between Chelsea and Barcelona takes place at 3:00 am on November 26 (Vietnam time).
