UEFA Champions League: Barcelona preparing to welcome Tottenham
Updated 15:54, 14-Dec-2018
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03:18
We turn to the UEFA Champions League, and tonight Barcelona will host English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in their last game in Group B. The five-time title winners from Spain have already secured top spot in the pool, while Spurs need a good result to maintain their hopes of reaching the knockout stage. Damion Jones previews the final round of the group stage.
Barcelona will be without forward Luis Suarez, who is still recovering from a recent knee injury when they welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Nou Camp on Tuesday night. Ernesto Valverde's men are already assured of reaching the knockout phase as winners of the UEFA Champions League's Group B, with four wins and one draw ahead of the pool finale. The Catalans' 13 points are six more than Spurs and Inter Milan, but defender Clement Lenglet says Barca have no plans to relax.
CLEMENT LENGLET BARCELONA DEFENDER "We're going into this game the same as we usually do as Barcelona players, with the idea of playing to win, and to also put on a good show in front of our fans at the stadium. This is important because it is a Champions League match, and there are not many of them during the course of the season. We have to enjoy them, because they are the best matches in the world."
Tottenham Hotspur head to Spain sitting second based on away goals, but have every intention of trying to grab three points against Barcelona. Manager Mauricio Pochettino is expected to move striker Harry Kane back into the starting 11, after the England captain was used as a substitute over the weekend, in their 2-0 EPL victory at Leicester. And with Inter Milan hosting cellar dwellers PSV Eindhoven at the San Siro, Spurs' trip to Barca might very well be a must-win situation.
Elsewhere, Liverpool will be hosting Group C leaders Napoli, whose total of nine points is one more than Paris Saint-Germain, and three ahead of the Reds. That means anything less than victory at Anfield will knock Juergen Klopp's crew out of the competition, while the visiting Donkeys only need a draw to punch their ticket to the Round of 16, with PSG simultaneously looking to secure their passage on the road against bottom side Red Star Belgrade.
JUERGEN KLOPP LIVERPOOL MANAGER "We are responsible for the situation in a good way, not in a bad way, because we qualified for the competition. The group is a hard one. That was clear when we got a draw. And now we have to chance still to go through, and that's pretty special, after the campaign we played so far. Now we have to create a special atmosphere with the way we play and we have to use that atmosphere as well."
Inter Milan's contest against PSV Eindhoven, and PSG's trek to Red Star Belgrade complete the action in B and C, while the showdowns in Group A feature Belgian club Brugge entertaining Spain's Atletico Madrid, and Monaco going up against Borussia Dortmund of Germany, with both road teams already through. And Turkey's Galatasaray will meet Porto, while German squad Schalke take on Lokomotiv Moscow of Russia, in Group D. DJ, CGTN.