Bate vs. Barcelona: Bate Won't Test Barca in Quest for Repeat

The worst thing you can ever do in sports is underestimate your opponent. I don't care if you're the best club in the world going up against a high school team. If you underestimate your opponent, you will be hurt.

But I am not on Barcelona's team. Heck, I am not really even a fan of theirs. I am just looking at a club that's been running like a well-oiled machine and saying that their chances of being upset aren't great.

It's not that BATE Borisov, or Bate, is a bad club—they are a solid team—it's just that Barcelona is arguably the best in the world right now.

Barcelona has far too many offensive weapons. Even when Bate is playing well, they struggle to score goals. So, if you're thinking that Bate will manage a draw or better against Barca, you are basically saying that Barca will manage fewer than three goals.

Quite frankly, I really don't like those odds.

Barcelona has way too many weapons in this one. This isn't even a matter of shutting down Lionel Messi.

For one, that's much easier said than done. Messi may well be the best player in the world. So, any team looking to truly shut him down will need to devote a lot of attention and manpower to him.

Given Barca's offensive depth, that's not a winning formula.

I am not necessarily predicting a repeat for Barcelona here. That's still way too far down the road. So much can happen, and there are a lot of other clubs that can stand up and beat them in a match.

But it's hard to see an upset here.

Sure, Barcelona is the road squad in this one, but I can't imagine that will make enough of a difference. Messi is playing too strong and his teammates are too good. There is just no way for Bate to stop this club right now.

Prediction: Barcelona 4, Bate 1