A shot in the arm is strongly required as Barcelona travel to Glasgow off the back of a home draw with Malaga, and yet in Celtic they face one of the most deceptive teams in Europe. Having only gotten out of their Champions League group once since 2007/08, the Scottish champions were beaten 7-0 at the Camp Nou earlier in the campaign but have undoubtedly matured under Brendan Rodgers since then, and simply must beat the Blaugrana to maintain hopes of pushing clear of fourth place. What's more, Celtic Park will provide one of the most intense atmospheres in Europe and memories of their 2012 triumph over Barcelona will serve to inspire the Bhoys. In their way, however, are a Catalan side re-endowed with the preferred MSN strikeforce, having lost Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi for the weekend stalemate, meaning out of form duo Paco Alcacer and Arda Turan will be dropped to the bench. Together, the three first-choice attackers have scored 11 of Barcelona's last 14 goals, Messi with seven, and will be expected to reignite the fire of Luis Enrique's side with tough games approaching.
Real Sociedad, where they've not won in their last five visits, await on the weekend in red-hot form but even the Basques aren't as dangerous as Real Madrid, who are now on the horizon and will soon go to the Camp Nou top of LaLiga with much to improve on for the Blaugrana ahead of that Clasico. Their mission to reclaim the bragging rights over their Spanish rivals starts in Scotland, on Wednesday night at 20:45 CET. Barcelona from selecting Lionel Messi, and after drawing with Malaga in his absence, coach Luis Enrique has strongly hinted that he'll have the forward back at his disposal for Wednesday's game with Celtic. A sickness bug hit the Argentine just before the Blaugrana's clash with the Andalusians, and the 0-0 draw that followed threw up big questions for the Camp Nou coach. "Yesterday he trained in perfect condition," confirmed Luis Enrique to the press at Celtic Park. "Messi always wants to play and only serious issues will stop him, so you can imagine how bad it was on Saturday. "I'm sure this time he'll be ready and able to give his best, as per usual."
Despite having thumped the Glaswegians for seven in Catalunya on matchday one of this year's Champions League group stage, the Barcelona boss is drawing no comparisons between that game and tomorrow's Celtic Park clash. "I think the first match does not serve as a reference because they've changed their system since then," noted Luis Enrique. "Tomorrow's match is a completely different story. "They will give us respect for how we play, but we will have to overcome some high blood pressure and be careful for a game of this magnitude. "The predictions that they'll sit deep and not attack won't come true, because they need points and that's not how they usually play." One experienced head the 46-year-old will be hoping to call upon for such an occasion is Gerard Pique, who is still working towards being fully match fit. "Pique's okay," Luis Enrique assured. "He didn't train yesterday after receiving a knock but it's nothing major. We trust that he'll be available for selection."
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