Champions League Group H leaders Barcelona head to Royal Antwerp's Bosuilstadion on Wednesday evening simply needing to avoid defeat to advance to the last 16 of the competition as group winners.

Meanwhile, the Belgian upstarts are only playing for a small sliver of pride on the final matchday, having failed to pick up a single point across their five top-level European contests thus far.

Match preview

Enduring the true meaning of a baptism of fire, Royal Antwerp's Champions League inauguration has been a wholly forgettable experience for Mark van Bommel's men, who have fallen to Barcelona, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk's superiority over the past few months.

Not even a shot at redemption in the Europa League is a possibility for the Jupiler Pro League outfit, who suffered a fifth defeat from five Group H matches away to Shakhtar two weeks ago, as Mykola Matvienko headed home from Oleksandr Zubkov's free kick on the 12-minute mark.

The Great Old enter the final matchday as the only team in this season's Champions League without a single point next to their name - Celtic, Red Star Belgrade and Benfica have all managed to glean one apiece - and a tournament-high 15 goals conceded goes a long way to explaining their miserable predicament.

An unwanted slice of Champions League folklore could also be written for the Reds this week, as having been beaten 3-2 by Shakhtar and 4-1 by Porto on home soil, the hosts could be the first team in the tournament's history to lose their opening three home matches while conceding at least three goals each time.

However, what Van Bommel's side have lacked continentally, they have made up for domestically, winning their third match on the bounce across the Jupiler Pro League and Belgian Cup by defeating Cercle Brugge 3-1 over the weekend, although they remain a whopping 11 points adrift of leaders Union SG.

In order to deny Barcelona a guaranteed first-placed ranking in Group H, Antwerp must therefore achieve a desirable club first by earning their maiden point - or points - in the Champions League, but even a shock victory on the Bosuilstadion turf may not be enough to knock La Blaugrana off their throne.

A 1-0 loss to Shakhtar on matchday four only delayed the inevitable for Barcelona, who secured their fourth win from five Group H games at home to Porto on November 28, as loan stars Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix sent Barca through to the knockout rounds and rendered an opening goal from Brazilian winger Pepe inconsequential.

Boasting three-point advantages over Porto and Shakhtar - who square off in their pivotal encounter this week - Barcelona could potentially be usurped by the latter team if they lose to Antwerp and there is a seven-goal swing in the Ukrainian side's favour, although such an outcome is highly unrealistic.

Then again, Girona scoring four goals on Barcelona's turf would have been laughed off as fanciful at the start of the season, but Michel's electrifying attacking unit did exactly that over the weekend, sinking the reigning Spanish champions 4-2 and opening up a seven-point lead over Barca in first place.

Aiming to rectify their domestic shortcomings, Barcelona have fond memories from their September showdown with Antwerp - crushing the Belgian side 5-0 at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys - although their only previous visit to the Reds' headquarters in 1965 ended in a 2-1 Fairs Cup loss, allowing the home faithful to dream of another famous European upset.

Team News

Antwerp attacker Arbnor Muja picked up two unnecessary yellow cards in the dying embers of his side's loss to Shakhtar on matchday five, ruling him out of Wednesday's game through suspension, while midfielder Jurgen Ekkelenkamp is still serving his own ban from his red card on matchday four.

Muja's suspension has left Van Bommel with a tricky attacking dilemma, as fellow wingers Anthony Valencia and Jacob Ondrejka are both recovering from fractures, while defenders Bjorn Engels (Achilles) and Jelle Bataille (ankle) are absent as well.

Chidera Ejuke was one of Antwerp's three scorers in the success over Brugge and could now be rewarded with a starting role over Muja, while Alhassan Yusuf ought to take Ekkelenkamp's place alongside the highly-rated Arthur Vermeeren, apparently a transfer target of Barcelona's.

Speaking of La Blaugrana, head coach Xavi will be working without his four known injury victims in Gavi (knee), Inigo Martinez (hamstring), Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marcos Alonso, both of whom are nursing back problems, while Frenkie de Jong has not travelled due to illness.

As only an exceptional set of circumstances will deny Barcelona top spot, Xavi should not be averse to shuffling his pack on Wednesday evening, especially with Ronald Araujo and Joao Felix at risk of missing the first leg of the last 16 if they pick up yellow cards in Belgium.

A lack of alternative centre-backs means that Araujo is unlikely to be afforded any respite, but Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez are among Xavi's wildcard options further up the field

Royal Antwerp possible starting lineup:
Butez; De Laet, Alderweireld, Coulibaly, Wijndal; Yusuf, Vermeeren; Kerk, Balikwisha, Ejuke; Janssen

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Pena; Cancelo, Kounde, Christensen, Balde; Lopez, Romeu, Gundogan; Yamal, Lewandowski, Torres

We say: Royal Antwerp 0-3 Barcelona

A few Barcelona fans may be keeping a more watchful eye on Vermeeren's performance rather than their own team on Wednesday evening, as their visit to Antwerp's turf should be a foregone conclusion from the first whistle.

A handful of changes may mean that their victory is not as emphatic as their five-goal Catalonia crushing, but with the added incentive of bouncing back from the weekend's dampening result, Xavi's men should seal top spot in style.


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