Overview
After a run of seven straight wins in La Liga, Barcelona have come back down to earth. Hansi Flick's side were surprisingly beaten 4-2 by Osasuna last weekend. However, they still hold on to the top spot as Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid also drew.
In the Champions League, Barcelona got off to a poor start when they lost to AS Monaco. This was a match in which the Blaugrana lost a man early on due to Eric Garcia's red card. Obviously, Flick's team will be very hungry for a win in the second round.
Hosting Young Boys at home is clearly the best opportunity for Barcelona to regain their confidence. Young Boys are in poor form, having just lost to Grasshoppers at home in the domestic league. They also lost 0-3 to Aston Villa in their opening Champions League match.
At this time, Barcelona is rated higher than Young Boys in every aspect. The Swiss team has never been a name that can cause trouble for the "big guys" in the European arena. With home field advantage, it is not surprising if Barca will find the joy of victory again.
This is the first time Barcelona and Young Boys have met in a competitive match. The Swiss side last faced a Spanish opponent in the competition in the 2021-2022 season, when they lost both home and away to Villarreal.
Human resources situation
Barcelona have a number of injury problems at the moment. Andreas Christensen, Dani Olmo, Fermin Lopez, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Marc Bernal, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Ronald Araujo are all out. Garcia is also suspended.
On the other side of the front line, Young Boys will also have a few players absent due to injury. Facinet Conte will be out for the rest of the season. In addition, Loris Benito, Patric Pfeiffer and Saidy Janko are also on the injury list.
Expected lineup:
Barcelona: Pena, Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde, Pedri, Casado, Torre, Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha.
Young Boys: Von Ballmoos, Athekame, Camara, Zoukrou, Hadjam, Niasse, Males, Ugrinic, Monteiro, Ganvoula, Virginius.
The match between Barcelona and Young Boys takes place at 2:00 a.m. on October 2 (Vietnam time).
