Barcelona have already made sure of winning their UEFA Champions League section for a record 12th successive season as they conclude their Group B campaign at home to Tottenham, for whom a first win in Spain would guarantee they join their opponents in the round of 16.
• The Spanish side were the only side to make sure of qualifying for the knockout stages before matchday five and clinched first place in the section with a 2-1 success at PSV Eindhoven last time out.
• Spurs, meanwhile, claimed a crucial 1-0 win against Internazionale on matchday five to join the Italian side on seven points. Tottenham are second on head-to-head away goals so will go through if they win, or if Inter – who finish at home to bottom side PSV – do not pick up more points than them on matchday six.
• Barcelona were 4-2 winners at Wembley on matchday two, Lionel Messi scoring twice in the second half to add to goals in the first half-hour from Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitić.
Previous meetings
• The sides’ only contests before this season came in the 1981/82 European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals. After a 1-1 first-leg draw at White Hart Lane, Allan Simonsen’s 46th-minute goal at the Camp Nou proved enough for Barcelona to go through to the final, where they beat Standard Liège 2-1.
Form guide
Barcelona
• Ernesto Valverde’s side opened Group B with a 4-0 home victory against PSV before winning at Spurs – Messi scoring five goals in those two games. Inter were then beaten 2-0 at the Camp Nou on matchday three, before a 1-1 draw at San Siro that secured progress and the win in Eindhoven that made sure of first place.
• Spanish champions for the 25th time – and third in four years – in 2017/18, Barcelona have been European champions on five occasions, most recently in 2015.
• Barcelona have now finished first in their UEFA Champions League group on a record 20 occasions – four times more than Real Madrid. If they avoid defeat against Tottenham it will be the 12th time they have gone through a group undefeated, also a competition record.
• Barça have now won their group in each of the last 12 seasons, and have reached at least the quarter-finals in the last 11 UEFA Champions League campaigns, both competition records. In 2017/18, they succumbed to a remarkable Roma fightback in the last eight, going out despite a 4-1 home first-leg victory after losing 3-0 in the Rome return.
• That defeat at Roma is Barcelona’s sole loss in their last 16 UEFA Champions League fixtures (W10 D5).
• Barcelona are unbeaten in 28 UEFA Champions League home matches, a run that started in September 2013 (W26 D2). If they do not lose to Tottenham, they will equal the competition record of 29 set by Bayern München between March 1998 and April 2002. They have won all their home group games in the last five editions and have not lost any since 2009 – a run of 27 matches (W25 D2).
• The Blaugrana’s last home game against English opponents was a 3-0 win against Chelsea in last season’s round of 16 second leg, completing a 4-1 aggregate success.
• Their overall home record against English clubs is W20 D11 L2. They have won the last five and seven of the last eight at the Camp Nou.
Tottenham
• Spurs lost their first two Group B games, going down 2-1 at Inter before that 4-2 home loss to Barça, their heaviest home defeat in the UEFA Champions League and joint heaviest in Europe. A 2-2 draw at PSV Eindhoven extended their winless European run to five fixtures, before Wembley wins against PSV (2-1) and Inter (1-0).
• The Lilywhites have won just four of their last 17 European away matches (D6 L7).
• Third in last season’s Premier League, Tottenham are in the group stage for the fourth time – and the third season in a row.
• Spurs got to the round of 16 in 2017/18, losing to Juventus. Tottenham drew the away first leg 2-2 – having been 2-0 down – but went out after a 2-1 reverse at Wembley.
• Mauricio Pochettino’s side picked up seven points on their travels in last season’s group stage, finishing top of their section ahead of eventual champions Real Madrid.
• The 1-1 draw at Real Madrid last season was Tottenham’s fifth trip to Spain, where their record is D2 L3. The 3-1 home win against Madrid that followed was only their second victory in 13 fixtures against Liga clubs, home and away, and the first since a 5-1 defeat of Atlético Madrid in the 1962/63 European Cup Winners’ Cup final.
• Tottenham’s most successful UEFA Champions League campaign came in 2010/11, when they reached the quarter-finals.
Links and trivia
• Thomas Vermaelen made 110 appearances for Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal between 2009 and 2014, scoring 13 times. He faced Spurs six times (W4 L2).
• Have also played in England:
Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool 2013–18)
Luis Suárez (Liverpool 2011–14)
Gerard Piqué (Manchester United 2006–08)
• Suárez scored four times in seven appearances for Liverpool against Spurs.
• Fernando Llorente was a late substitute in Juventus’s defeat by Barcelona in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final.
• Have played in Spain:
Fernando Llorente (Athletic Club 2004–13, Sevilla 2015/16)
Toby Alderweireld (Atlético Madrid 2013/14)
• Have played together:
Samuel Umtiti & Hugo Lloris (Lyon 2012)
Jasper Cillessen & Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Christian Eriksen, Thomas Vermaelen (Ajax)
• International team-mates:
Thomas Vermaelen & Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembélé, Jan Vertonghen (Belgium)
Ousmane Dembélé, Samuel Umtiti & Hugo Lloris (France)
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