Champions League
2012-09-19 - Barcelona vs Spartak Moscow
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: European Champions League
Wednesday 19 September 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
Barcelona
I wouldn't say it is all change at Barcelona, but Josep Guardiola is gone and his assistant Tito Vilanova is going to take charge of his first Champions League game. He has been playing things down at the moment, but it would be as big a surprise as you can see in football if Barcelona fail to make it out of a Group containing Benfica, Celtic and Spartak Moscow.
Even without Guardiola, Barcelona have been comfortable at home, winning all 4 games in La Liga to open up a 8 point lead over Real Madrid and they are already short priced favourites to regain the title. The only defeat they have suffered has come in the Spanish Super Cup which was won by Real Madrid, but that is not one of their priorities this season.
Barcelona have won 5 straight home games in all competitions since a horrible week when they were beaten by Real Madrid and drew with Chelsea to lose their grip on their La Liga and Champions League crowns. They have won 13 of their last 16 home games in the Champions League since their loss to Rubin Kazan.
Jordi Alba missed the game at the weekend with a flu, but he could return for this one. Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez could all be missing.
Spartak Moscow
It has been a couple of seasons since Spartak Moscow were last playing in the Group Stage of the Champions League, but they survived a qualifying game against Fenerbache to make it through. There is some confidence that they can progress further with Benfica and Celtic their rivals for what is likely to be a place behind Barcelona.
They will have to play better than they have been in the Russian Premier League where Spartak Moscow are currently 7th in the table and already 6 points off the pace. Spartak haven't won any of their last 4 games in all competitions since winning the first leg of the qualifying game against Fenerbache.
Spartak have failed to win any of their last 5 away games in all competitions and that included a heavy 5-0 loss to fellow Champions League participants Zenit St Petersburg. They have gone 3-1-1 away from home in Europe in the last couple of seasons, although the defeat was a heavy one at Porto.
Demy de Zeeuw is suspended having been sent off at Fenerbache in the qualifiers. Sergei Parshivlyuk and Nicolas Pareja are both missing for the away side.
Head to Head
This is the third time Barcelona and Spartak Moscow will be playing one another in the Champions League, although the first time since the 1993/94 season.
On that occasion, Barcelona beat Spartak 5-1 at the Nou Camp and drew the game 2-2 in Moscow having blown a 0-2 lead.
Prediction
I hate taking big handicaps, especially at odds on, but that is the situation for me in this game as I just believe Barcelona are going to be far too strong and look to make a statement to the rest of Europe after being beaten in the Semi Finals last season.
Spartak Moscow are missing their first choice defenders and their defensive midfielder in this game and they offered up Fenerbache so many chances in the second leg of their qualifiers that I felt they were fortunate to be taking their place in the draw.
They won't want to roll over here, but the team is clearly one that is struggling for confidence having not won any of their last 4 games and their 5-0 loss at Zenit would be a concern for me.
Barcelona are missing a couple of key players, especially Andres Iniesta, but they usually been very good at this stage of the Champions League and there is enough talent to take the chances that are sure to come their way.
It's a big handicap at - 2.5 goals, but I'll back Barcelona to win this one by at least 3 goals.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Barcelona 4-0 Spartak Moscow
