Barcelona vs Viktoria Plzen Preview – Prediction, how to watch & potential line-ups | OneFootball

Barcelona and Viktoria Plzen are set to trade tackles at the Spotify Camp Nou in their opening Champions League Group C fixture.

Once again allocated to the ‘group of death,’ last season’s La Liga runners-up will have to cope with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan to avoid another European upset.

Barcelona’s shocking third-place finish in last season’s Champions League Group E marked their first group stage elimination in 17 campaigns and triggered massive changes at Camp Nou.

As part of the club’s bid to strengthen Xavi Hernandez’s effort to restore glory days in Catalunya, the Blaugrana have signed a host of top-class players in the summer.

One of them is the third joint-highest goalscorer in Champions League history, Robert Lewandowski.

After hitting braces in his last two La Liga appearances, the Polish goal-getter will be out to whittle down the gap on the leading duo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

With all due respect to Plzen’s Czech First League triumph in 2021/22, they should be no match for a star-studded Barcelona, let alone contain one of the best strikers of the modern age.

Tipped to be the whipping boys in this elite section, Michal Bilek’s men are back in the Champions League for the first time since the 2018/19 season.

Would you be surprised that Plzen have never made it out of the group stages in Europe’s elite competition? Nothing should change this term following a hugely unfavourable draw for the Czech powerhouse.

Match Preview

Barcelona

Before Bayern’s overwhelming 3-0 win in last season’s Champions League opener at Camp Nou, Barcelona had gone unbeaten in 22 consecutive opening-day matches at the tournament (W17, D5).

Everything is set for Barca’s return to winning ways, with the Spaniards beating Plzen by 2+ goals ‘to nil’ in both previous Champions League meetings.

The spotlight will be on Lewandowski, who has netted 33 goals across the last three Champions League campaigns, more than any other player in that sequence.

Viktoria Plzen

Visiting Plzen head into proceedings as underdogs, yet they can find some comfort knowing they are enjoying a club-record 34-game unbeaten competitive run (W25, D9).

However, the upcoming trip to Barcelona will stir unpleasant memories in the Czech camp, as they’ve lost all four previous visits to Spanish soil, failing to score in three.

On the bright side, Bilek’s lads have proved their European credentials by racking up five wins and a draw across six qualifying matches this season, even though those fixtures came against lesser-ranked teams.

Barcelona vs Viktoria Plzen Potential Line-ups

Barcelona (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Jordi Alba, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, Sergi Roberto; Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri; Raphinha, Ousmane Dembele, Robert Lewandowski.

Viktoria Plzen (4-2-3-1): Jindrich Stanek; Vaclav Jemelka, Ludek Pernica, Lukas Hejda, Libor Holik; Lukas Kalvach, Pavel Bucha; Jan Sykora, Jan Kopic, Jhon Mosquera; Tomas Chory.

How to Watch?

Barcelona vs Plzen, alongside all other matches in Europe’s most prestigious club competition this season, is available to watch online via Champions League live streams. And if you are interested in attending a future Champions League game, see our Champions League tickets page for more information.

Barcelona vs Viktoria Plzen Prediction

After being outdone by the best Barcelona side in history over a decade ago, the odds are once again heavily stacked against the Czech visitors.

Anything other than Barca’s multi-goal margin win, accompanied by Lewandowski’s impact, would be a massive success for Plzen.

Barcelona 5-0 Viktoria Plzen