UEFA Champions League: How Can FC Barcelona Prevail Against Spartak Moscow?

Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona
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FC Barcelona will face Spartak Moscow this week in a Group G UEFA Champions League (UCL) match. The match will be played on September 19, 2012 at Camp Nou in Barcelona.

Another roundtable discussion about the possibilities for Barca in this initial match is in order. The reason being the success from the previous roundtable discussion concerning Manchester United and Galatasaray.

The question proposed at this time is: How can Barca prevail against Spartak Moscow? Jerry Koh, Karla Villegas-Gama and Mohammed Al Hendy were all invited to the roundtable discussion.

The only remaining factor needed is an invitation for the B/R readers to enjoy the slideshow and discuss La Blaugrana in the current UCL season.

Jerry Koh

FC Barcelona VS Valencia CF
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Obviously Barca have to make sure that they have the front lineup of Messi, Sanchez and Pedro. And as people have been saying, the key for their Champions League quest is the defence.

You can have the best attack in the world but if your defence is a shambles then sorry, you have no chance of succeeding at the highest level. Barca must make sure that their defence is tight and not too frail.

Karla Villegas-Gama

Andres Iniesta
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The key to winning this match is to control the midfield and take advantage of playing on home soil.

Andres Iniesta will miss the match due to injury, so Tito Vilanova needs to be extra careful when he picks a replacement.

Spartak will come out seeking to draw the game; Barcelona has to be perfect with the tiki taka.

Mohammed Al Hendy

FC Barcelona
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Honestly, it shouldn't be hard at all for FC Barcelona to triumph over Spartak Moscow. Spartak are now being managed by the very talented Unai Emery, but their squad is still rather limited technically, and has gotten off to a rather subpar start in the league.

Emmanuel Emenike, Welliton, Ari and Artem Dzyuba have all yet to register a single goal in seven games, and the team has yet to settle into any sort of rhythm.

There are a few things that Tito Vilanova should keep in mind though, to ensure victory for his team. Though Spartak's centre-forwards have struggled in front of goal, they've been fairly good at laying the ball off to the team's midfield to do the scoring.

Dmitri Kombarov in particular has made a strong start to the season because of this. As such, Barcelona's centre-backs should  take particular care to shut down the team's centre-forward and the man behind him, whoever they may be.

All of Spartak's forwards are fairly pacey as well, so this will be something for Barca's centre-backs to watch for as well.

To close though, with Barcelona playing at the Camp Nou, this match should be a stroll in the park. Emery hasn't yet been able to take all the various pieces available to him at Spartak and mold them into a single identity.

I expect Barca to impose their style, dominate possession and easily finish at least two or three of their scoring chances. Anything less than a two-goal margin victory here would be a big surprise for me.

Roberto Alvarez-Galloso

FC Barcelona
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La Blaugrana must concentrate on the midfield and defence during their match. Spartak Moscow may attempt to take advantage of any weakness in that area.

David Villa may be able to compensate for the absence of Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol with goals. FC Barcelona will defeat Spartak Moscow in the match if they are strong in midfield.

 

My thanks to Karla Villegas-Gama, Jerry Koh, and Mohammed Al Hendy for their participation in the roundtable discussion. The following prediction is a personal opinion which may or may not occur.

Prediction: FC Barcelona 3-2 Spartak Moscow