Things are getting heated for Barcelona as they enter a crucial stretch of their season. The Catalan giants are scheduled to take on FC Porto today in a UEFA Champions League clash. A victory is the ideal scenario, but any other result could open up a world of possibilities.
La Blaugrana have already started to decline in La Liga, and have been struggling in recent games. As such, a disappointment in the Champions League is something Barcelona can not afford at any cost. However, the opportunity for failure is still very much alive.
As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, a wide range of unfortunate possibilities still exist. Given the result of the game between Barcelona and Porto, the entire complexion of Group H could turn on its head.
At the moment, Barcelona sits atop the group with 9 points. They are tied with Porto (9 points) in this particular regard, but they hold an advantage with their head-to-head tally. In terms of goal difference, both the Spanish side and the Portuguese club have a +6 goal difference.
A win against Porto would take Barcelona to 12 points, which would guarantee qualification. Moreover, it would also make first position retention a real possibility. Porto would then have no power to win in a head-to-head, but could match Barcelona for points on the last matchday if Barça lost to Antwerp while Porto overcame Shakhtar.
A loss, on the other hand, would be very detrimental. That would firstly cancel out the head-to-head advantage, and depending on the score, also ruin Barça’s goal difference advantage. That would leave Barcelona at 9 points while Porto reach 12. Moreover, if Shakhtar manage to win against Antwerp, they would also have 9 points.
Even more interestingly, that would leave the last matchday as open as possible for everyone to qualify. Shakhtar could win against Porto and reach 12 points, while Barcelona could do the same by winning against Antwerp. That would leave all three sides at 12 points each. In this case, the respective goal differences and head-to-head advantages will all come into play.
A draw against Porto would not exactly be ideal, but it would also not be the final nail in the coffin. That result would leave both Barcelona and Porto at 10 points each. On the other end of the group, a victory for Shakhtar would bring the Ukrainian side to 9 points.
That would leave the final day of the Champions League match-day fully open. Barcelona would aim for a victory against Antwerp and even first place would remain a real possibility.
On the other end, Porto and Shakhtar would have to duke it out to guarantee their respective progressions. A victory for either would qualify only one, whereas a draw between them would only require a draw for Barça against Antwerp to confirm qualification.
