Barcelona vs Antwerp prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-09-18 19:00.
Barcelona will be beginning a joint-record 28th UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign, that includes their 20th consecutive appearance, with a mandate to improve after being eliminated in the group stages during their last two editions. That should be incentive enough to start their Group H campaign well against Royal Antwerp, a side they last faced in the 1965/66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
That fixture saw Barça win the home leg 2-0 but victories have been few and far between for the Catalans across their last eight UCL home matches (W2, D2, L4). At least on that note they won’t miss Camp Nou, as their temporary home Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys has seen them win both their home league fixtures, including a 5-0 win over Real Betis in their latest match, making it four straight wins coming into this tie.
Antwerp are making their UCL group stage debut, although their participation in the previous avatar of the European Cup in 1957 makes their 66-year gap between appearances the longest-ever in the competition. They have a rich pedigree as the last Belgian club to reach the final of a UEFA competition when they did so in the 1992/93 European Cup Winners’ Cup, but coming out of a group that also has Shakhtar Donetsk and Porto might well be celebrated with equal gusto.
Coached by Mark van Bommel, who won the UCL with Barcelona as a player in the 2000s, the visitors are unbeaten across six matches (W4, D2) but have their task cut out in Spain. The Reds have lost all three away games against Spanish sides (aggregate 10-0) although their recent unbeaten six-game run in away European games (W3, D3) suggests they could make it difficult for the hosts.
Key battle: After a slow start, Robert Lewandowski has picked up form across his last three games for Barcelona (G3, A2) and he has happy memories from last season when he scored a hat-trick in their UCL opener. Looking to halt him in his stride could be Toby Alderweireld, with the Antwerp defender looking for his first H2H win (D1, L1) and an end to three personal straight UCL group stage losses.
Hot stat: Barcelona are unbeaten at home against Belgian clubs (W7, D1), although this is their first such match since September 2002.