Barça cling to Champions dream after nervy Prague win - Copenhagen showdown looms
Barcelona's narrow victory against Slavia Prague keeps their top-8 hopes alive, but they'll need a big result against Copenhagen in their final Champions League group match.
Barcelona kept their Champions League hopes alive with a nail-biting win in Prague, but their route to the knockout stages remains on a knife edge ahead of a crucial final group game.
Prague mission accomplished - barely
It wasn’t pretty, but job done for Hansi Flick’s men in the Czech capital. Barcelona scraped past Slavia Prague in what was an absolute must-win fixture if they harboured any ambitions of securing automatic qualification to the Round of 16.
The Catalans desperately needed both a victory and some helpful results elsewhere, but while they managed to secure the three points themselves, the other dominoes didn’t fall their way. That means everything comes down to the final matchday with Barça still knocking on the door of the coveted top-8 positions.
The numbers game
After today’s result, Barcelona sit on 13 points - right on the bubble of automatic qualification spots. The blaugrana now find themselves in a proper logjam with several European heavyweights all on identical points:
- PSG
- Newcastle United
- Sporting Lisbon
- Manchester City
- Atlético Madrid
- Atalanta
With so many teams deadlocked, goal difference could prove the deciding factor in this proper dog’s dinner of a group stage finale.
Copenhagen showdown
Barça’s final group stage opponent will be Copenhagen, with the Danish side currently sitting 26th in the table. The Danes aren’t just making up the numbers though - they’re still battling for a playoff spot themselves.
For Flick’s charges, simply winning might not be enough - they likely need a proper thrashing of the Danes to boost that all-important goal difference.
When and where?
The decisive clash will take place at the Camp Nou as part of a mammoth simultaneous finale to the league phase:
- Date: Next Wednesday
- Kick-off: 9:00pm local time (CET)
- Context: One of 18 simultaneous matches in a Champions League super-Wednesday
Barcelona’s European fate hangs in the balance, and anything less than three points would be a proper disaster. The pressure’s well and truly on - time to see what this Barcelona side is made of.