Barcelona vs. Monchengladbach: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info for UCL

Barcelona will look to get back to winning ways on Tuesday when they take on Borussia Monchengladbach at the Camp Nou in the UEFA Champions League.

Indeed, that is all they have to play for with top spot in Group C secured, and the same goes for Gladbach, as they are guaranteed third place and a spot in the UEFA Europa League.

After their 1-1 stalemate with Real Madrid in Saturday's Clasico, the Blaugrana have drawn four of their last five games in all competitions and won just once since October. Their opponents have also struggled of late having last won on October 25.

Date: Tuesday, December 6

Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. ET

TV: BT Sport Extra (UK), Fox Sports 2 (USA)

Live Stream: BT Sport Player (UK), Fox Soccer 2 GO USA

Team News

According to Transfermarkt, Jeremy Mathieu is the only player sidelined for Barca, while both Neymar and Ivan Rakitic will miss the game after picking up three yellow cards over the course of the group stage.

Per the same outlet, Lars Stindl will be suspended for the visitors, who are missing Josip Drmic, Patrick Herrmann, Moritz Nicolas, Marvin Schulz and Mamadou Doucoure through injury. Ibrahima Traore is also a doubt for the match.

Predicted Barcelona Lineup: Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti, Gerard Pique, Lucas Digne; Rafinha, Arda Turan, Andre Gomes; Denis Suarez, Paco Alcacer, Lionel Messi

Predicted Monchengladbach Lineup: Yann Sommer; Nico Elvedi, Andreas Christensen, Tobias Strobl; Julian Korb, Christoph Kramer, Mahmoud Dahoud, Oscar Wendt; Thorgan Hazard, Raffael, Fabian Johnson

Preview

With top spot secured and Neymar and Rakitic suspended, it would not be a surprise if Barca manager Luis Enrique gave some of his squad players a run out alongside some of their regulars to offer them the chance to impress.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

For perhaps none is it more important to take that opportunity than Paco Alcacer. The 23-year-old signed for Barca in the summer as a back-up to the front three, but he is yet to score in 10 appearances for his new side.

On Wednesday, he was given the task of leading the line against Hercules in the Copa del Rey but failed to make an impact.

Grup 14's Diana Kristinne and Rafael Hernandez reflected on his struggles:

If chosen to start against Gladbach, he needs to show he can be viable cover for his team-mates, or he may find his career at the Camp Nou in serious jeopardy.

The Bundesliga outfit could prove the ideal opponents for the striker to test his mettle against, as they've not kept a clean sheet in six games and shipped four against Borussia Dortmund last time out.

Gladbach summarised how the match went for them on Twitter:

Bleacher Report UK's Lars Pollmann was unimpressed and believes manager Andre Schubert is fortunate to still be in a job:

With their defence struggling to cope with pace and quality in the final third, it's difficult to see them coming away from the match with a positive result, even against a rotated Barcelona team that's not in stellar form.

In times such as these for Barca, the need for strength in depth is at its most crucial—Alcacer and other squad players need to show their value to the team, and they'll have a point to prove on Tuesday.