Ernesto Valverde’s side will claim a place in the last 16 if they can pick up a point in the Netherlands
Barcelona can secure top spot in Champions League Group B with a victory over PSV on Wednesday.
The Catalan club have won three of their four fixtures in the pool this far, scoring 11 times and conceding only three, and will tackle a Dutch outfit scrambling just to make the Europa League spot.
PSV showed in drawing with Tottenham , however, that they are no pushovers and after several of their players helped Netherlands qualify for the Nations League finals earlier this month, they should be in good heart.
| Game | PSV vs Barcelona |
| Date | Wednesday, November 28 |
| Time | 8pm GMT / 3pm ET |
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial) .
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
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| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Univision NOW | Univision Deportes En Vivo |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on BT Sport ESPN and livestreamed on BT Sport Live.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| BT Sport ESPN | BT Sport Live |
| Position | PSV players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Zoet, Room |
| Defenders | Isimat-Mirin, Behich, Viergever, Schwaab, Tasende, Hendrix, Sainsbury, Dumfries, Souas |
| Midfielders | Pereiro, Rosario, Ramselaar, Lundqvist, Gutierrez, Frey, Schoonbrood, Mauro Junior |
| Forwards | De Jong, Romero, Lozano, Malen, Bergwijn, Aboukhlal |
Long-term absentee Ryan Thomas is missing for the home side, who otherwise have a full squad at their disposal.
PSV XI: Zoet; Dumfries, Schwaab, Viergever, Angelino, Rosario, Pereiro, Hendrix, Lozano, De Jong, Bergwijn.
| Position | Barcelona squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Ter Stegen, Pena, Ezkieta |
| Defenders | Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Alba, Lenglet, Miranda, Chumi |
| Midfielders | Rakitic, Busquets, Coutinho, Vidal, Alena, Suarez, Malcom |
| Forwards | Messi, Munir, Dembele, Puig |
Barcelona will be bereft of a trio of regulars, with Sergi Roberto, Arthur and Luis Suarez all laid up injured.
Netherlands international goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen is ruled out of playing in his homeland.
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Rakitic, Busquets, Vidal, Messi, Coutinho, Dembele.
Barcelona are significant 2/5 favourites at bet365 . PSV can be backed at 13/2, while the draw is a 17/4 shot.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
It has been a month since Barcelona laid down a marker with their 5-1 victory over Real Madrid in El Clasico , but since that stunning success they have failed to kick on.
While they have suffered only one defeat in their subsequent five matches, the blistering form they displayed against Los Blancos has been rarely evident and they approach PSV on the back of a three-game winless run, including draws away to Atletico Madrid and Inter, as well as a shock 4-3 loss in the league to Real Betis.
It took a late goal from Ousmane Dembele to salvage a 1-1 draw against Atleti at the weekend, and head coach Ernesto Valverde has admitted that his squad are starting to feel the pace of an intense start to the season.
“It’s not that we don’t want the players to go away with the national team, but it is something that we have to pay a price for and, in this case, several players’ injuries have coincided at the same time,” he said, lamenting his squad’s international commitments.
PSV, meanwhile, seem to be coming to the end of their European road. They may lead the Eredivisie, but they have been unable to replicate Ajax’s Champions League heroics this season.
Head coach Mark van Bommel has put much of that down to fine details.
“The little things are always decisive in football,” he said. “We took the lead in three of out four group games.
“Just take the Inter game. If their keeper had been sent off for a professional foul on Steven Bergwijn, we could have made it 2-0. Deduct three points from Inter’s total and add three to ours and you may wonder how different the table would look.”
And though the odds may remain stacked against the Dutchmen, they are eager to give everything they have to overcome Barca.
“We know it will not be easy but we are still in the race for third place,” Van Bommel added.
For PSV, Wednesday’s match is about keeping their hopes burning.