Chelsea vs. Barcelona: UEFA Champions League Odds, Prediction

Payton Matthews
February 19, 2018

The final four first-leg matches of the Champions League’s last 16 are this week with the marquee matchup Tuesday featuring Premier League side Chelsea hosting La Liga powerhouse Barcelona. Their second-leg match is March 14 at Camp Nou.

UCL Round of 16: Chelsea vs. Barcelona First Leg Odds

Chelsea

Chelsea has won the Champions League once in club history, beating German power Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout in 2012. The Blues are the only Premier League side to win the Europe’s top club competition this decade. In group play in this season’s UCL, Chelsea finished tied in Group C with AC Roma, which won the head-to-head tiebreaker. In the Premier League, Chelsea currently sits fourth – Manchester City is running away with that title.
The Blues warmed up for this match with a 4-0 win over Hull in the FA Cup last Friday to reach the quarterfinals of that event. Manager Antonio Conte rested key players such as Eden Hazard, Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Thibaut Courtois and N’Golo Kante with an eye toward this match at Stamford Bridge. Hazard leads Chelsea with 11 goals this season in the Premier League, 15 in all competitions and three in the Champions League. Chelsea do have some injury concerns as defender David Luiz and midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko are both out. Marcos Alonso is expected to return after he missed the last two games.

These teams have met 12 times previously, all in the Champions League, with Chelsea winning four, Barca three and five draws. They last played six years ago. The Blues did face another La Liga club in the group stage this season, winning 2-1 at Atletico Madrid and tying 1-1 in London.

Barcelona

Barca is a five-time Champions League winner, last in 2015 – a Spanish side have won the past four, with Real Madrid the other three. Barcelona was the winner of Group D with four victories and two draws in group stage play and outscoring its foes 9-1. Barcelona is bidding to reach the quarterfinals for a record-extending 11th consecutive year. It has reached the last 16 every year since 2004-05 and the only loses were to English clubs Chelsea (2005) and Liverpool (2007). The Blaugrana’s last trip to an English team was a 3-1 loss at Manchester City in last season’s group stage.

Of course, Lionel Messi is the brightest of a star-studded Barca lineup and leads the team with 29 goals in all competitions, 20 in La Liga and three in this year’s UCL competition. The Argentine has never scored in eight career matches vs. Chelsea. That’s his worst scoring mark against any club in the world. Messi is -135 to have a goal at any time in this match.

For Barca, top defender Gerard Pique returned from an injury absence on Saturday in a 2-0 La Liga victory over Eibar. Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde did not rest any of his key players. Back in January, Barca signed former Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho to a record-setting transfer deal, but he’s ineligible for the Champions League because he played for Liverpool in the group stage. Meantime, right back Nélson Semedo is suspended for the match due to an accumulation of yellow cards.