Off the wire
• China's naval hospital ship calls at U.S. port  • Greater transparency called for in UN General Assembly chief's role in light of scandal  • Palestinian official regrets Saudi withdrawal to play in Ramallah  • FIFA health program for children filmed in Ghana  • Public reports of terror-related activities up 300 pct: Aussie gov't  • China promises to continue playing constructive role in Afghan reconciliation process  • Roundup: Canadian stock market climbs on surging oil prices  • 1st Ld-Writethru: President Xi to meet Taiwan leader in Singapore  • Roundup: U.S. stocks extend gains on surging oil  • U.S. sets preliminary subsidy rates on corrosion-resistant steel products from four countries  
You are here: 　 Home

Barca look to move closer to Champions League last 16

Xinhua, November 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

FC Barcelona can just about assure their place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night if they are able to beat BATE Borisov.

Barca defeated the side from Belarus away from home a fortnight ago and after improved displays in their recent games they will be confident of doing the same again in the Camp Nou Stadium.

BATE are likely to get men behind the ball and patience will probably have to be the order of the day, but with a potentially tricky BBVA Primera Liga game against Villarreal on Sunday, coach Luis Enrique will probably make some changes.

Ter Stegen will return in goal for Claudio Bravo, while Sandro Ramirez will probably get a start as he looks for his elusive first goal of the season.

Javier Mascherano, who is suspended in the league this coming weekend, will also get a game, while this could be the perfect moment to give game-time to players such as Thomas Vermaelen and Adriano, whose early seasons have both been disrupted by injury.

The Camp Nou is likely to be packed with fans carrying pro-Catalan independence flags which have already earned the club two fines from UEFA, despite the fact they are not illegal under either Spanish or European law. The club has asked for fans to make a stand for what it considers to be freedom of expression.

Enrique dodged questions on that issue on Tuesday, saying he and the players were more focused on the game, but he did comment on the second controversy surrounding the club: the Halloween celebrations following Saturday's win in Getafe which saw several players in fancy dress interrupt a press conference by a Getafe player and also apparently leave the dressing room in a dreadful state after that Halloween prank.

"We're perfectly positioned for any positive thing to be made negative. I'm not getting involved in that and nor are the players. On Saturday we played a great game of football and won 0-2. The rest of it is part of the usual circus," said Enrique, who added it "would be good" for some of the press to get "dressed up" from time to time. Endi