Celtic welcome Barcelona to Glasgow on Tuesday hoping that they can repeat last season's memorable victory over the Spanish outfit in the group stages of the Champions League.

The Scottish champions recorded a 2-1 win over Barcelona on November 7 last year, a result that proved to be key in their qualification for the knockout round of the competition.

Celtic will certainly have earmarked their home matches in Group H after opening their campaign with a 2-0 defeat to AC Milan on September 18. They have won seven of their last nine European fixtures in Glasgow, with the one defeat coming in the last-16 clash with Juventus last season.

The home side will enter the match on the back of a 5-2 win over Kilmarnock in the league at the weekend, a result that has left them in second position in the Scottish Premiership. Barcelona, meanwhile, top La Liga with a perfect record from their seven matches thus far.

The La Liga outfit were victorious in their opening group match on September 18 with a 4-0 win over Ajax. However, their record in Scotland is fairly patchy with just two wins and one draw from their six matches.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon could continue with the same side that performed impressively at the San Siro on matchday one with Anthony Stokes and Georgios Samaras both operating in forward areas.

Scott Brown is also expected to skipper the team from midfield, but Nir Biton and Teemu Pukki are both pushing for spots in the starting XI against the Spanish champions.

Barcelona, meanwhile, will be without Lionel Messi, who is expected to miss the next three weeks with a hamstring injury. Defensive pair Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba are also both unavailable, meaning that Adriano and Marc Bartra should continue in the back four.

Cesc Fabregas is expected to be deployed in the centre of the Barcelona attack, with Neymar operating from the left. Alexis Sanchez and Pedro will once more fight it out for a place on the right for the Catalan outfit.

Recent form

Celtic: WLWLW

Barcelona: WWWWW

Possible starting lineups

Celtic: Forster; Matthews, Ambrose, Van Dijk, Mulgrew; Brown, Lustig, Izaguirre; Commons, Samaras, Stokes

Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Bartra, Adriano; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Neymar, Fabregas, Pedro

Sports Mole says: 1-3

Written by
Matt Law

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