Scottish club Celtic need Barcelona FC to take some points off Benfica in their next game in order to qualify for the Champions League last 16 and Barca’s Xavi Hernandez has said that his club will “fight to help them get through”.
Barcelona would need to take some points off Portuguese side Benfica and Neil Lennon’s Celtic would have to beat Unai Emery’s Spartak Moscow, who Barca beat by 3 goals to nil, for the Scottish club to go into the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Catalan side were impressed by the Scots and the way they handled themselves when they beat Barca by 2 goals to one two weeks ago. Barcelona are already through to the last 16 and technically they have nothing to play for when the meet Benfica.
However, the Catalan giants will not lay down against a gutsy Lisbon side and will go for the win.Xavi said that “Barcelona only ever play to win as that’s the only way they know”. This is good news for the Celts and now have to concentrate on beating Spartak in order to make their dream come true. Celtic have a great side, and if they got through to the next round, they could still cause a few upsets when they meet the bigger clubs.
The Barca star midfielder has this to say:
“We are very happy to have won the group with a game to go.
“That does not mean that Barca will not be looking to win the final game in our group.
“Winning produces momentum and we won’t want to break it by relaxing and thinking the game against Benfica does not matter.
“The match will be in front of our home fans and we want a victory for them.
“Whatever players Barcelona decide to field, we are capable of beating any team, especially when we play at home.
“We have no alliances. It doesn’t matter to us who progresses but we will play fairly and we will play to win in the final game.”
Neil Lennon is only too aware that Benfica need to beat Barcelona in order to leave Celtic out in the cold. Hoops manager Lennon knows that Barca key players are likely to be rested or sitting on the bench except for Argentine maestro Leo Messi who is a favourite to start and who’s chasing Gerd Muller’s 85-goals-in-a-year record.
Whatever happens, Barca will be going for the win when they face Benfica on Wednesday 5th December at the Nou Camp.
We will surely win the league. Bravo Barca!