Champions League: Big Games For Spanish Trio Barca, Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal

Champions League: Big games for Spanish trio Barca, Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal (Image Source: IANS)

In Champions League: In Champions League action on Tuesday, Spanish super club Barcelona would travel for a key match away to England for a clash with Chelsea, while Athletic Bilbao have to forget their poor domestic form in a visit to Prague, and Villarreal may produce their top domestic form in Europe.

Two wins, a draw, and a defeat from four games have left Barcelona 11th in the 36-team group, so the five-time champion needs a win away to Chelsea, which has the same points, to take a step closer to the top eight and avoid an extra play-off round in February.

Barcelona travel to London after returning to the Camp Nou with a 4-0 win at home to Athletic on Saturday. Raphinha is back after injury, and the Brazilian is likely to play some part on Tuesday night, reports Xinhua.

Frenkie de Jong will return to the side after missing out on Saturday due to suspension, while Ronald Araujo has the option of returning in central defense. Pedri is still out with a muscle problem, but Lamine Yamal's display on the weekend implied he should have a few problems with his long-standing groin problem.

Chelsea moved second in the Premier League on the weekend, and the game is a good early test of both sides' title credentials.

Athletic need to recover quickly from their weekend defeat in Barcelona, and above all, cut out the defensive errors which gifted Barca their first three goals in that game, when Ernesto Valverde's side travels to Slavia Prague. Athletic Bilbao are currently a point outside of the play-offs, and a win against a rival that only has two draws so far in this campaign is absolutely vital to their qualification hopes.

Valverde will bring Gorka Guruzeta back into his side, while Jesus Areso and Aitor Paredes could come into defense, although his options are limited by injuries to Inaki Williams, Benat Prados, and Maroan Sannadi.

Meanwhile, Nico Williams continues to have problems with pubalgia, and after starting at the weekend, Valverde may not risk giving his star player two starts in four days. Williams scored the only goal as Athletic beat Slavia Prague in last season's Europa League, but it needed a fine display from goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala to secure the win.

Villarreal's domestic form has been outstanding, and Marcelino Garcia Toral's side is currently third in La Liga. However, their form in Europe has been very different and the side from the east of Spain has only got one draw and three defeats.

Meanwhile, Nico Williams continues to have problems with pubalgia, and after starting at the weekend, Valverde may not risk giving his star player two starts in four days. Williams scored the only goal as Athletic beat Slavia Prague in last season's Europa League, but it needed a fine display from goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala to secure the win.

Multiple-time winner Real Madrid travel to face Olympiakos on Wednesday, looking to end a worrying run of form. Atletico Madrid are under pressure when they meet high-flying Inter Milan in one of the most attractive games of the week in the tournament.

Article Source: IANS