Five reasons why Barcelona are favourites in their Champions League clash with Chelsea

David Cooper - Writer 20:34 13/03/2018
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  • Barcelona head into their second leg round of 16 clash with Chelsea in confident mood.

    Having secured a crucial away goal at Stamford Bridge in the first leg 1-1 draw, the Catalans are backed to advance to the next round of the Champions League.

    Here are five stat-based reasons why Barcelona are favourites to beat Chelsea to the quarter-finals.

    HISTORY ON THEIR SIDE

    – Based on historic results in Europe, Barcelona’s odds to advance based on the 1-1 away draw now are 74%. Chelsea’s have been reduced to 26%.

    – Barcelona have not failed to win in more than five successive CL matches against any other opponent.

    LAST 16 EXPERTS

    – The last time Barcelona failed to survive the Last 16 round was in 2006/07, when they were ousted by
    Liverpool (2-1 home defeat, 1-0 away win).

    PREY ON ENGLISH TEAMS

    – In three of the last four CL campaigns, Barcelona eliminated an English team in the Last 16: Manchester City in 2013/14 and 2014/15, and Arsenal in 2015/16. Last season, they ousted Paris Saint-Germain (4-0 away defeat, 6-1 home win).

    SOLID DEFENCE IN EUROPE

    – Barcelona have kept a clean sheet in six of their eight CL fixtures this season. The only players that managed to score against Barcelona this term were Dimitris Nikolaou for Olympiacos and Willian for Chelsea.

    HOME ADVANTAGE

    – Barcelona have lost only nine of 114 Champions League home matches (W83-D22-L9). Of these results, only 13% were a result that Chelsea need to advance after 90 minutes. Another 78% would see Barca progress instantly. Nine percent of the results (a 1-1 draw) would force extra time.

    – Barcelona are unbeaten in 24 CL home matches (W22-D2-L0), since the 3-0 defeat against Bayern in the 2012/13 semifinals. Only Bayern München (29, 1998-2002) remained unbeaten in more consecutive CL home matches.

    All stats provided by gracenote.com

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