Behind a brace from Ivan Rakitic on October 20th, Barcelona defeated BATE 2-0 in Belarus and now will clash in the reverse fixture in Spain.
Form
It has been a good stretch of games for Barcelona as they are still adapting to life without Leo Messi. While Messi still remains out with a knee injury, his striker partners Luis Suarez and Neymar have stepped up big time. Both have seemed to have a renewed confidence and are simply cannot stop scoring. Both scored the two goals that Barcelona needed to beat Getafe on the weekend and will likely get on the scoring sheet against BATE.
The play of Suarez and Neymar have helped Barcelona stay at the top of La Liga with Real Madrid and have them on top of their Champions League group as well. But with a Clasico coming up in three weeks, Barcelona will have to maintain the form that they have now.
For BATE, in terms of domestic football, they are at the top of the Belarus Premier League with 62 points. They beat Dinamo Brest 1-0 over the weekend and now have a 12 point lead over second place Dinamo Minsk and seemed destined to win the league and qualify for the Champions League. In terms of European football, it has been a struggle but BATE have been putting up a fight.
After getting smashed by Bayer Leverkusen in the first group game, BATE came back with a shock win over Roma. Considered the minnows in a strong group, the fact that BATE have 3 points is very impressive.
Key Players
Of course, a majority of BATE's focus will be Neymar. In Messi's absence, the Brazilian is now the best player on the field for the Catalans and has stepped up for the club. He recently scored four goals in Barcas win over Rayo and has to keep producing for the club. Other than Luis Suarez, no other player can create in space like Neymar. Look for him to get a first half goal against BATE.
The key player for BATE will be fullback Filip Mladenovic. He scored two goals for BATE against Roma and is the best defender who can also attack. He will likely be matched up against Neymar and will look to keep the Brazilian at bay on the wings. If he can do that, BATE have a chance of stealing points at the Camp Nou.
Team News
Leo Messi is now expected to miss the Clasico on the 21st of November with the knee injury he suffered last month. It will be a big blow to Barcelona as they face off against Real in what is the biggest game of the year so far.
Both Andres Iniesta and Sergi Roberto returned from injuries for the Catalan club on the weekend and both are probable to play in the game against BATE.
What They're Saying
"Our first aim is to qualify and as we are the defending champions, we want to do so as first of our group," said Barcelona manager Luis Enrique to Barcelona's offical team website (via ESPNFC.com)
The Catalans have not finished first in their UCL groups in a long time and plan to keep it that way.
He later went on to add "We hope we can continue to hand in good performances and continue to win."