Wednesday 28th November 2000hrs PSV v Barcelona Football – Europe – Champions League The situation in Group B is looking rather bleak for the hosts whilst it would take a very improbable set of results which would prevent Barca from playing in the knockout phase in the early part of 2019. Nevertheless, there are always mitigating circumstances and that brings with it different angles for betting purposes. It’s likely plenty will be decided in this section on the completion of both matches and these two clubs have their own targets. Continue reading for a match preview of PSV against Barcelona with a selected best betting tip.
PSV continue to go great guns in the Eredivise with their winning run in the league extended to a remarkable 13 games. They remain five points clear above rivals Ajax but as is so often the case with teams from the lesser leagues in Europe, the Eindhoven side have not been able to combine their domestic form with a European challenge. The Champions League knockout phase is virtually beyond them and they will have to hope for results to go their way in an attempt to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League. To do that they required a third-place finish which would mean taking at least four points from their final two matches and hoping Tottenham finish without gaining another point. There are other (more unlikely) scenarios that could yet see it happen but one point from their first four matches has severely hampered their hopes of playing any European football in the new year. Their latest match essentially summed up their participation in the Champions League so far with a 2-1 loss away to Spurs coming having taken the lead in the game. Apart from their 4-1 defeat to Barca in the Nou Camp, PSV have been competitive in all their games and will hope to be so again on Wednesday.
Barca were knocked off the top of La Liga at the weekend following a 1-1 draw away to Atletico Madrid. Ordinarily that would be seen as a decent result in arguably their hardest fixture of the season but due to lapses throughout the campaign they do not have the same margin of error, or cushion, that they have enjoyed in past seasons. Ernesto Valverde is also contending with a significant injury crisis that has limited his choices for this match. Perhaps it’s an indication of how much he is prioritising the game with Barca almost qualified and he feels he can give some players with a niggle that longer rest, but he would undoubtedly want more of his squad available and firing on all cylinders. They could have assured themselves of qualification last time out but having taken the lead in the second half away to Inter Milan they were undone soon after, meaning they need a point to be guaranteed of progressing and potentially winning the group. It’s near enough certain that we will see Barca in the next stage but on the evidence of the form we’ve seen so far they will have to improve considerably to win the competition which is their aim.
PSV v Barcelona Betting Tip
The Dutch league leaders can consider themselves unfortunate in some degree that they were on the end of possibly Barcelona’s best performance of the season outside of the Clasico win but that’s the nature of the Champions League and they have responded pretty well to that mauling. Their head coach Mark Van Bommel won the competition as a player with Barca back in 2006 of course, and he will be relishing at coming up against his old club once again tomorrow. He may also fancy his team to upset their opponents for some of the reasons outlined above, however he’ll also be aware that whilst the visitors to have injury concerns they also have a plethora of quality capable of turning it on.
PSV’s last win at home in a Champions League group stage match was back in 2015 defeating CSKA Moscow. They qualified that season having won all three home matches but they’ve not won any of their next six. Barcelona’s away record is far from impressive either, though, with it being two wins from their last nine and they are at a vulnerable point of their season at the moment. It is a more speculative punt than usual but a point suits Barcelona and would be seen as a good result for their hosts, so take a draw in this encounter.
Selection: Draw 4/1 @ Betfred
