UEFA Champions League: Barcelona v Stuttgart Match Preview

Stuttgart travel to the Nou Camp to face current European champions Barcelona, where the must score at least once to have any hope of staying in the competition after a 1-1 draw in Germany.

Stuttgart will have high hopes knowing that the statistics are currently going their way, the fact that they are unbeaten away in the competition this season will be a bonus, although the have never previously won in Spain.

The German outfit will have one issue tho – Lionel Messi. The attacking midfielder is in sensational form at the moment, much like he has been throughout his career, scoring a hat-trick at the weekend against Valencia.

Barcelona will have to make do without captain Carles Puyol in defence who is suffering with a back problem, which could see either Rafael Marquez or Gabriel Milito replacing him.

Eric Abidal, Seydou Keita and Xavi could miss the tie with injury leaving room for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Maxwell and new wonderkid on the block Sergi Busquets to come in to contention. Thierry Henry could also start ahead of Bojan Krkic.

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Christian Gross has impressed since taking over at Stuttgart, losing only two games, but will want to come into the game with full spirit after losing to Schalke last week.

Mathieu Delpierre, and Stefano Celozzi are back in the squad but Martin Lanig, Arthur Boka and Sven Ulreich all remain on the sidelines.

Source: Sky Sports