Slavia Prague vs Barcelona: TV channel, kick-off time, live stream, referee, injury and team news
Barcelona travel to Czechia to take on Slavia Prague in matchday 7 of the UEFA Champions League, on Wednesday evening, in what is a very important game for Hansi Flick’s side as they look to ensure that they don’t slip up in the league phase.
Barcelona are currently 15th in the league phase, with 10 points in six games so far. They’ve won three, drawn one and lost two of their games so far. Their wins have come against Newcastle United, Olympiacos and Eintracht Frankfurt, with the draw coming against Club Brugge, and the two losses against PSG and Chelsea.
The LaLiga leaders also need to bounce back from a poor result in domestic action over the weekend, as they lost 2-1 away at Real Sociedad in a contentious encountre, that saw their lead at the top of the league reduce to just one point.
Slavia Prague don’t have a win yet in the Champions League this season, and will be looking for a famous night in front of their home fans. They haven’t played a competitive fixture since their 4-3 home win against Jablonec on Dec. 13, as the Czech league took its winter break. Slavia have played three friendlies in the last couple of weeks, in their bid to get sharp for this game.
How to watch:
The match will be will be shown on TNT Sports 6 in the UK, Paramount+ in the U.S., SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. ET; 1:30 a.m. IST, Thursday and 6 a.m. AEST, Thursday)
Venue: Eden Arena, Prague
Referee: Chirag Kavanagh [England]
VAR: Stuart Attwell [England]
Injury and Team News:
Slavia Praha
Dominik Javorcek, D: knee, OUT, est. return mid-February
Filip Horsky, F: ACL, OUT, est. return late January
Petr Sevcik, M: knee, OUT, est. return late January
Barcelona
Andreas Christensen, D: ACL, OUT, est. return unknown
Gavi, M: Mensicus, OUT, est. return early February
Talking Points:
Big opportunity for Barcelona to respond to Sociedad loss
Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong speaks to the referee during his team’s loss to Real Sociedad on Sunday. Getty Images
It will be an intimidating atmosphere in Prague but it is an ideal opportunity for Barcelona to set right the wrongs that plagued their defeat to Real Sociedad on Sunday. It is not a loss that Flick must panic too much over. Barça had won 11 in a row prior to that, so a minor blip on the road is only to be expected.
However, they need to make a statement in Prague on Wednesday, to ensure the blip doesn’t balloon into major concerns. Slavia have struggled all season in Europe, and Barça have been fairly efficient in putting away teams of that stature — exemplified by their 6-1 win over Olympiacos in October.
The firepower Barcelona have in attack needs to come to the fore, with the excellent Pedri pulling the strings behind them. It’s an opportunity as well for the likes of João Cancelo and Robert Lewandowski to show Flick why they should be starters.
Slavia’s European struggles this season
The Czech team have not scored in five Champions League games since that 2-2 draw in the opening game of the season against Bodo/Glimt. They have fallen to comfortable defeats against Arsenal, Internazionale, and Tottenham Hotspur, while only managing goalless draws against Athletic Club and Atalanta.
Barcelona have kept six clean sheets in their last eight games, so Slavia’s attacking woes in European competition only look likely to get worse.
For Mojmír Chytil, Lukás Provod, Youssoupha Sanyang and co. the ever-present prospect of Barça’s high defensive line might look an enticing proposition, but they need to be precise to exploit that, and they haven’t yet shown much evidence of being able to do so against the European heavyweights so far this season.
Barcelona look to move closer to top eight
For a team that finished second in the league phase last season, Barcelona haven’t found the going similarly straightforward this season. They sit 15th, and know that anything other than a win against Slavia might spell the end of their hopes of finishing in the top 8, all of whom will avoid having to play a playoff tie to get into the Round of 16 of the competition.
As it stands, Atletico Madrid are eighth, with two points more than Barca. Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham, who occupy spots nine to 11, all have 11 points, one more than Barca.
If Barça don’t beat Slavia, then they could have to spend the final matchday next week casting a look at various other results that they would need to go their way for them to finish in the top 8. That is not a situation that they would want to get themselves into.
Who starts up top for Barcelona?
Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring against Espanyol. Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images
The Spaniard Ferran Torres has had an excellent season for Barcelona so far, having already scored 15 goals in 27 appearances so far this term. However, since a hat-trick against Real Betis in early December, Torres has only scored twice in seven games, and one of those was against lower-division side Racing Santander in the Copa del Rey.
In Barcelona’s last eight games, Lewandowski has only started in one — that was the Supercopa final against Real Madrid, which he scored in. He also had a goal in a substitute appearance in the Catalan derby earlier this month, which Barcelona won 2-0 against Espanyol.
Obviously, at his age, Lewandowski’s minutes need to be managed to ensure he’s available to contribute at the most opportune moments. However, in such an important game, with Torres not quite at his best, it might be time for Flick to roll the dice on the experienced Pole.
What do the numbers say?
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last eight matches against Czech opposition, winning seven and drawing one. They have faced Slavia twice before, in the group stages of the 2019-20 Champions League. Barcelona won 2-1 in Prague, before a goalless draw in Spain.
However, Barcelona have won only one of their last five away Champions League matches. They’ve lost three of those five games, and have conceded three or more goals four times in those five games.
Slavia have won only two of their 16 matches against Spanish teams. They have also not scored in any of their last five matches in the Champions League this season.
