Barcelona want to put the top flight back in their hearts
Once upon a time, Mark van Bommel laced up his football boots for FC Barcelona. In 2006, the Dutchman, who later also shaped a successful era at FC Bayern, even won the UEFA Champions League with the Catalans. For the long-time aggressive leader of the Oranje and the current coach of Royal Antwerp, the opening match of the new season in the premier league is therefore a very special one.
However, this is not only due to van Bommel’s past in the Spanish metropolis, but equally to the immense importance this encounter has for his current club. For the first time since 1957 (!), the oldest football club from Belgium, also known as “The Great Old”, is represented in the most important European club competition again.
The underdogs are not given particularly good odds on the first matchday, however, because in the Barcelona vs. Antwerp betting tip, a bet on the visitors delivers enormously high odds of 16.00. The implied probability of victory is therefore only a meagre 6%.
One small drop of bitterness remains, however, from the point of view of the Belgian double winners. The port cities would have loved to celebrate their return to the big European football stage at Camp Nou. However, because the actual home ground of the reigning Spanish champions is currently being rebuilt, the FCB will move to the city’s Olympic Stadium in the early stages of this season. Of course, this modified home advantage does not change the starting position at all. Anything other than a successful Barcelona vs. Antwerp prediction on the Xavi team would be a huge sensation.
Barcelona – Statistics & current form
For FC Barcelona, the Champions League has turned out to be a surprising kryptonite over the past two seasons. While the Spanish giants never failed to reach the group stage in 19 consecutive seasons from 2001/02 to 2020/21, the Catalans suffered exactly the same fate in the previous two seasons. The Blaugrana have lost eight of their last 15 matches in this competition (four wins, three draws). By way of comparison, it took 67 (!) games in the top flight for eight defeats.
After many months and a few years of rebuilding work, the five-time title holders in Europe’s most important club competition now seem to be in a position to have a say in the awarding of the 2024 Cup. At least, that’s what various bookmakers suggest, because before Barcelona’s opening match against Antwerp, odds suggest that only four other teams have a better chance of winning the overall title than the Blue and Reds.
Barcelona start the top flight with a broad chest
The fact that coach Xavi’s team starts the new season of the top division with a lot of self-confidence and a very decent form became clear at the weekend. In the home match against Betis Sevilla, the Catalans won 5:0 thanks to a strong performance. After the sobering 0:0 in the La Liga opener against Getafe, it was already the fourth win in a row for the defending champions, who scored 13 goals in the course of this aforementioned winning streak and remained without conceding a goal in at least the two home games.
For this reason, among others, it seems to be a justifiable approach to check the odds on a home win including clean sheet in the duel Barcelona vs Antwerp. Bet365 is offering 2.00 at the top for this.
Of course, Robert Lewandowski is a potential goalscorer for the Xavi side, who are currently playing their home games at the Olympic Stadium rather than the Camp Nou due to renovations. Together with Antoine Griezman, the Pole is the only professional to have scored at least once in nine (!) consecutive CL seasons. In the eternal list of goal scorers, Lewy ranks third (91) behind CR7 (112 goals) and Lionel Messi (92). The former Bayern star has scored 60 times in his last 60 games in the top flight. Should Lewandowski score the first goal of the game on Tuesday night, odds of over 3.00 would be paid out between Barcelona and Antwerp.
Predicted Barcelona line-up:
FC Barcelona (Expected line-up) 4-3-3
Antwerp – Statistics & current form
Sixty-five years ago, Royal Antwerp were last allowed to compete at the best international level with Europe’s top teams in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup. The return to the successor competition, the UEFA Champions League, is therefore an extremely atmospheric highlight that the players, the officials and, of course, the fans are looking forward to.
However, it is also fair to say that the Belgian double winners are among the most glaring underdogs in the group stage of the top flight and that every point they win must be considered a success. Coach Mark van Bommel’s team does not seem to be completely without a chance in a four-team constellation that includes FC Porto and Shakhtyor Donetsk in addition to the group leaders from Catalonia.
Royal Antwerp will be looking to make a respectable impression
From the point of view of the Red and Whites, who somewhat surprisingly managed to hold their own against AEK Athens in the play-offs in both the first and second legs, the main thing will be to show a better face than they did on the first matchdays at national level. “The Great Old” have only won three of their six league games so far and are currently in fifth place. Especially away from home, there is room for improvement after only one win from four attempts.
Incidentally, Belgium’s oldest club is, together with Union Berlin, the only newcomer to the UEFA Champions League. Overall, it is the seventh Belgian club to make its debut in the top flight. Only one of the previous six clubs won its debut match.
To make matters worse, the aforementioned Mark van Bommel has yet to win a single match in nine CL games as head coach. With PSV Eindhoven and VfL Wolfsburg, the Dutchman remained winless (four draws, five defeats). Ahead of the match at Barcelona against Antwerp, we would predict that this negative streak will be broken on Tuesday evening.
Predicted line-up of Antwerp:
Antwerp (Expected line-up) 4-3-3
Barcelona – Antwerp Direct comparison / H2H balance
The only two head-to-head duels result from a time when even some of the parents of the players who will be on the pitch during the week were not yet born. In the 1964/64 Fairs Cup, Barcelona narrowly prevailed 3-2 after a first and second leg. Almost 60 years on, the cards will be reshuffled, but the Catalans’ distinct role as favourites has not changed.
Barcelona – Antwerp tip
On the first matchday of the Champions League Group H, it’s a duel between David and Goliath. One of the favourites to win the title meets one of the most glaring outsiders. Unsurprisingly, one-sided betting odds of maximum 1.17 on the Spanish champions are offered before the match between Barcelona and Antwerp.
Indeed, coach Xavi’s side, who beat Betis Sevilla 5-0 at home at the weekend to win their last four league games in a row, are expected to start the new CL season perfectly. The question is therefore rather how high the home victory will be or how well/long the Belgian double winners will be able to fight back at the city’s 1992 Olympic Stadium?
With Barca facing three consecutive English weeks and certainly needing to conserve their energy a little, we are leaning towards a bet between Barcelona and Antwerp that the home side will live up to their role as favourites, but that a maximum of four goals will be scored in the course of the game.
Betano offers 1.70 for a Barca win in conjunction with under 4.5 goals.
