Barcelona vs Royal Antwerp

Click on any stream link below to watch the game

Click on any link in the table above to watch the game.

INSIGHTS

Pre Match

 

1

The only previous meetings between Barcelona and Royal Antwerp came in the 1964-65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, with the Spanish giants winning 3-2 on aggregate in the second round (1-2 away, 2-0 home).

 

2

Royal Antwerp have lost all three of their away games against Spanish sides by an aggregate score of 10-0. Meanwhile, Barcelona have never lost a home game against Belgian opposition (W7 D1), with this being their first such game since a 3-2 win over Club Brugge in September 2002.

 

3

Royal Antwerp last played in the European Cup in 1957, with the gap of 65 years between appearances the longest ever in the competition.

 

4

This will be Barcelona's 28th UEFA Champions League campaign, the joint-most along with Real Madrid. It's also their 20th consecutive appearance in the competition, featuring in every campaign since 2004-05.

 

5

Having progressed past the first round group stage in 19 consecutive UEFA Champions League appearances between 2001-02 and 2020-21, Barcelona have been eliminated at this stage in each of the last two campaigns.

 

When Barcelona hosts Royal Antwerp to Camp Nou on Tuesday night, they will be hoping to get off to a winning start in Group H of the Champions League.

The home team will enter the game fresh off a 5-0 win against Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday, while Antwerp defeated Westerlo 3-0 in Belgium's top division on Friday.

Barcelona had a lackluster start to their La Liga title defense when they were held to a scoreless draw by Getafe on August 13. However, they have since gone on a four-game winning streak to take the top spot in the standings.

In fact, Xavi's team won three straight games against Cadiz, Villarreal, and Osasuna prior to the international break. On Saturday night, they thrashed Real Betis 5-0, with goals from Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo on their home debuts, as well as Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, and Raphinha.

The reigning La Liga champions from Catalonia enjoy a strong start to the current campaign, but in their last two appearances in the Champions League, they were unable to go past the group stage.

While Barcelona was defeated by Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 in the 2020–21 competition, they did reach the 2019–20 season's semifinals before falling to eventual champion Liverpool.

Xavi's team, along with Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk, are the clear favorites to win this group, so they'll be motivated to get off to a strong start on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Tuesday will be a historic day for Antwerp as they play in the Champions League group stage for the first time in their history.

The Reds qualified for the Champions League playoff round, where they faced AEK Athens, after winning just their fifth Belgian First Division championship overall and their first since 1957.

However, Mark van Bommel's team was able to defeat both of its playoff opponents at home and away, winning 3-1 on aggregate to move on to the group round of the competition.

Although Antwerp would have had a little more time to prepare for this game than Barcelona as they defeated Westerlo 3-0 in the league on Friday, they are only fifth in their domestic division, three points behind Anderlecht.

The Reds have come a long way in a short period of time, and Tuesday's match will be historic for everyone associated with the club. The Reds were defeated in the Europa Conference League playoff round last season and are now participating in the group stage of the Champions League.