Barcelona vs Celtic Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Barcelona endured an early setback in their La Liga title defence on Saturday night when they succumbed to a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Alaves. The visitors had already proved themselves a handful this season when they earned a draw against Atletico Madrid, but this has to go down as the biggest shock of the season so far in Spain.

The hosting Barcelona trailed to a goal late in the first half before Jeremy Mathieu equalised just after the break. However, with 25 minutes remaining Ibai Gomez put the visitors in front again, and despite the introduction for Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta, Barcelona couldn’t find a way through the organised Alaves defence.

This ends Barcelona’s run of ten competitive wins in a row and puts a halt to their perfect start to the season. However, now their attentions will turn to the Champions League, where they face a group consisting of Celtic, Manchester City, and Borussia Monchengladbach as they look to be crowned European champions for the 5th time this millennium.

Celtic have enjoyed a very good start to their life under new manager Brendan Rodgers. They hammered Old Firm rivals Rangers 5-1 at the weekend in the first Old Firm derby since Rangers’ return to the top flight.

This win made it eight wins, one draw, and two defeats in their 11 competitive matches so far this season. However, all of their failures to win have come away from home in the Champions League, and Barcelona will provide a much tougher test than the likes of Lincoln Red Imps, Astana, and Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

To be fair to Celtic, these failures have largely been down to complacency, and there will be none of that on show on Tuesday. The visitors have scored in nine of their 11 competitive matches so far this season and have netted a huge 23 goals in their last six competitive games. They also scored against Barcelona in a 3-1 defeat in the International Champions Cup in pre-season.

Barcelona’s defence will be a bit rattled after conceding two at home to Alaves and if Rodgers gets his tactics right, Celtic should be able to get through the hosts’ defence. Especially with Leigh Griffiths back and the weekend’s hat-trick hero Moussa Dembele in fine form. Odds of 6/4 for Both Teams to Score looks incredibly good value, so that’s what I’m backing, along with a 3-1 win for Barcelona at 12/1 for my correct score prediction.