Barcelona vs Young Boys Prediction: 1/10/2024

Barcelona had a rough start to their Champions League campaign, losing 2-1 to AS Monaco at the Stade Louis II, a defeat compounded by Eric Garcia’s early red card. Under the leadership of Hansi Flick, the Catalans, who reached the quarter-finals last season, are aiming for another deep run in the tournament.

Domestically, they’ve been unstoppable with six wins in their first six league games. At the time of writing, Barça had just secured a 5-1 win away at Villarreal and were preparing for matches against Getafe and Osasuna.

Young Boys, the reigning Swiss champions, also started their Champions League journey on a disappointing note, suffering a 3-0 home defeat to Aston Villa. Despite this, the Swiss side got back on track in their domestic league, earning their first win of the season after seven attempts, beating Winterthur 4-1. While the visitors are not expected to pose much of a challenge to Barcelona, they have been strong on the road, remaining undefeated in five away matches, including four wins. Before their clash with Barça, Young Boys were set to host Grasshoppers in the Swiss league.

Barcelona have suffered a significant blow with the loss of their captain and goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, who is expected to be sidelined for eight months. The club has considered replacements, including former Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and Keylor Navas, but for now, backup keeper Iñaki Peña will take over.

Barcelona will also be without key players like Frenkie De Jong, Gavi, Andreas Christensen, and Ronald Araújo. However, they still have plenty of firepower, with Robert Lewandowski (6 goals, 2 assists in the league), Raphinha in excellent form, and young sensation Lamine Yamal (3 goals, 5 assists in La Liga), who scored against Monaco in their Champions League opener.

Young Boys also have some absentees, including Anthony Conte, Saidy Janko, and Frederik Pfeiffer. Nonetheless, they will rely on striker Silvère Ganvoula (4 goals in the league), Swiss international Joel Monteiro (3 goals, 1 assist), and Cedric Itten, who had an impressive 10 goals and 3 assists last season but has struggled to find his form this year.

 

Prediction

Young Boys have a knack for both scoring and conceding in games, with nine consecutive top-flight matches seeing goals at both ends. While Barcelona hasn’t matched those numbers, they too have seen seven of their last nine games without a clean sheet. Given Barça’s attacking strength, a high-scoring affair is expected.

Prediction: Barcelona 4 : 1 Young Boys