Barcelona vs Roma. UEFA Champions League Quarter Final.
Camp NouAttendance90,106.
Wednesday 4 April 2018 18:45, UK
Barcelona have been boosted by the return of Sergio Busquets ahead of the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Roma on Wednesday.
Busquets trained with the first team on Monday after recovering from a broken bone in his foot, sustained against Chelsea in their last-16 clash three weeks ago.
Barcelona are looking to reach the last four of the Champions League for the first time in three years, after falling at the quarter-final stage both in 2016 and 2017.
Lionel Messi is fit again and expected to start after missing Argentina's recent friendlies and coming off the bench on Saturday to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw with Sevilla.
"Messi is fine, he could start," said Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde. "He is a unique player in history and the world of football."
The last time Roma faced Barcelona was in the Champions League group stage in November 2015, with Barca registering a thumping 6-1 home win.
Roma reached the quarter-finals after beating Shakhtar Donetsk on away goals. They have won seven of their last 10 matches in all competitions.
Messi and Busquets are set to be available for Barcelona but Philippe Coutinho is cup-tied as he has played in the competition for Liverpool.
Roma attacking midfielder Cengiz Under is out due to injury, but Radja Nainggolan has been included in the squad.
Under suffered a thigh injury on international duty with Turkey, while Nainggolan limped off during the first half of Roma's 1-1 draw at Bologna on Saturday.
Barcelona and Roma will meet in European competition for the fifth time. All four previous occasions have been in the Champions League since 2002 and they have an equal record: one win apiece and two draws.
Barcelona enjoyed a 6-1 win over Roma in their last meeting; back in November 2015. This is one of only three occasions in their European competition history that Roma have lost a game by a goal margin of more than five goals.
The Spanish giants are unbeaten in nine successive Champions League games and have conceded just two goals in these games (scoring 13 themselves).
Since the start of 2013-14, Barcelona have not lost a single Champions League match at the Nou Camp, winning 23 and drawing two games there in this period. In these games, they've outscored their opponents 77-12.
Excluding qualifiers, Roma have won just one of their last 13 Champions League away games (2-1 vs FK Qarabag in September), losing seven and drawing five.
Since the start of last season, Lionel Messi has scored 17 goals in 17 Champions League appearances for Barcelona. Messi has scored 12 Champions League goals against Italian clubs (in 19 appearances) including two goals in two games vs Roma.
I've been watching Roma with interest this season and they were my dark horses, but it is Barcelona who are the team I'd love to see win it.
Roma will double up on Lionel Messi but he'll be just fine with that, dragging them all over the pitch and opening the game up for his team-mates.
Barca do struggle a bit with Philippe Coutinho being cup-tied as Paco Alcacer isn't sufficient back up and Ousmane Dembele is still adapting to playing alongside players of the ilk of Messi and Luis Suarez.
I think they'll go with Dembele, who has the pace to exploit those gaps left by Roma focusing on Messi, and it should be a comfortable night at the Nou Camp if he can step up.
Charlie predicts: 3-0 and Suarez to score first (14/1 with Sky Bet)
