Barcelona coach Luis Enrique insists they won’t underestimate Champions League opponents BATE Borisov. The Gunners lead came during the second half of the game at Emirates when Oliver Giroud headed in and assist by Santiago Carzola following set piece cross.
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They go into the contest having ensured a 10th straight title in Belarus as they are 10 points clear at the top of the standings with only three games remaining.
BATE Borisov secured their first points in the Champions League campaign with a stunning 3-2 home win over Roma on matchday two – their fourth successive home victory in the competition including the qualifying rounds. The win sees the side stay top of Group E ahead of second placed Bayer Leverkusen.
A 2 – 0 win for Barcelona is the most likely outcome of the game with William Hill and Bet365 offering odds of 6/1 and 11/2 respectively.
Rakitic got Barcelona on the board in the 48 minute thanks to a great setup play by Neymar, who got the attention of four BATE players, which left the Croatian open and Ivan slammed in a golazo.
Not only will Barcelona be without injured stars Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta, but their defense has quickly lost their championship-caliber discipline from last season and is leaking goals at an astonishing rate. To win with a clean sheet while the other game ended in a draw puts us in a strong position.
Since joining Barcelona from Santos in the summer of 2013, Neymar has scored 62 goals in 101 games for Barcelona.
Yermakovich, 40, bemoaned BATE’s performance but took nothing away from the Champions League holders.
All four of BATE’s goals in the Champions League this season have been scored in the opening 30 minutes.
“Hopefully Neymar doesn’t stop and we have to sign a lot more balls for him”, said midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
However, he added that his team should have done better with a few of the chances they created and they need to improve their finishing. Barcleona’s league form has been slightly erratic compared to the heights that they reached last season.
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In Group G, Porto were 2-0 winners at home against rock-bottom, pointless Maccabi Tel Aviv, courtesy of goals from Vincent Aboubakar and Yacine Brahimi four minutes apart at the end of the first-half.
