European champions Barcelona welcome the visit of BATE Borisov in Group E of the Champions League on Wednesday, as they look to move onto 10 points from four fixtures.

As for travelling BATE, the Belarusian club still hold strong hopes of qualification and sit just one point behind second-placed Bayer Leverkusen in the group.

Barcelona

Luis Enrique's men go into Wednesday's clash aiming to complete the double over BATE, having already beaten the Belarusian side in the group last month.

That victory moved the Catalan club onto seven points at the top of the qualifying standings, as Barca built on a victory over Bayer Leverkusen and an opening draw away against Roma.

A win midweek would move Enrique and his charges onto 10 points, which should stand them in good stead to seal early qualification in the coming weeks.

Since losing to Sevilla at the start of the month, Barcelona have now gone on a three-game winning streak in La Liga that sees them occupying second spot in the league table just behind leaders Real Madrid on goal difference.

Enrique will be hopeful of carrying the club's favourable history in the competition into the fixture against Borisov, with Barca on a run of seven straight home wins in the Champions League.

The injury to Lionel Messi does not seem to have impacted the club's fortunes too much, as both Luis Suarez and Neymar have been contributing a standout number of goals in recent weeks.

A victory at Camp Nou should put Barcelona on the brink of progression into the last-16 stage for the 12th season running, and the club's fans will be confident of setting out another European marker with a commanding home win come the end of matchday four.

Recent form (all competitions): LWWWDW

BATE Borisov

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In light of the quality around BATE in the group, one might have forgiven some onlookers for writing the team off without a game being played, but after three fixtures the Belarusians are still in with a shout of making it into the knockout stages.

In between defeats to Bayer Leverkusen and Barca, Borisov were able to pull off a memorable victory over Roma to earn three points that have them sitting in third spot and one point off second-placed Bayer.

Aleksandr Yermakovich will be aware that qualification is still a long way off, but he might be looking at the abilities of the teams around him knowing that all the sides are capable of taking points from each other.

Gaining a point in Catalonia could make things extremely interesting for the underdogs going into the final two games of the group. What will really excite some fans is that the club are still to welcome Leverkusen to Belarus, and they might see that game as the most likely route to another three points.

Wednesday's task remains a huge one for BATE to overcome, especially given their poor away record in the tournament. As things stand, Borisov have only won one of 13 previous away fixtures in the Champions League group stages. Added to that is the fact that BATE have also lost on all five of their previous visits to Spain.

In order to take something away from this fixture, BATE will need to carry over their away form from their domestic league exploits, which have seen them go unbeaten in 28 away matches.

Recent form (all competitions): WDWLWW

Team News

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Javier Mascherano missed Barca's last league game through suspension, but he is likely to return at the heart of defence.

With Messi out, it looks like Sandro and Munir El Haddadi will be battling for a place alongside Suarez and Neymar in attack, while Sergi Roberto could well keep his place in the middle at the expense of Ivan Rakitic.

As for the visitors, Alexander Hleb will miss a visit to his old club as he remains out with an injury, as do both Vitali Rodionov and Maksim Zhavnerchik.

Yermakovich will also have a decision to make over defender Nemanja Milunovic, who is currently just one booking away from a European ban.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Stegen; Alba, Mascherano, Pique, Alves; Roberto, Busquets, Iniesta; Neymar, Suarez, Haddadi

BATE Borisov possible starting lineup:
Chernik; Mladenovic, Milunovic, Dubra, Polyakov; Yablonski, Nikolic; Volodko, Gordeychuk, Stasevich; Signevich

Head To Head

Barca will be aiming to continue their strong run against BATE by beating them for the second time in the group. The clubs also squared up during the 2011-12 Champions League campaign, where the Catalan outfit put nine goals past Borisov across two group fixtures.

We say: Barcelona 3-0 BATE Borisov

Given their run of recent form both domestically and on the European stage, Barcelona will be confident of pushing further ahead towards early qualification with a home victory. Barca have not lost a home Champions League fixture since the 3-0 defeat by Bayern Munich in May 2013. BATE will still have hopes of getting out of the group and into the knockout stages, but they will have to produce a performance of historic significance if they want to take something away from the hosts on Wednesday.

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