European football expert Andy Brassell on our Champions League group

European football expert Andy Brassell gives us an insight into our three Champions League Group B opponents - Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and FC Internazionale Milano.

A reminder, our schedule is as follows...
Tuesday 18th September - Inter (A)
Wednesday 3rd October - Barcelona (H)
Wednesday 24th October - PSV Eindhoven (A)
Tuesday 6th November - PSV Eindhoven (H)
Wednesday 28th November - Inter (H)
Tuesday 11th December - Barcelona (A)

Andy Brassell

Andy is a regular contributor to the Guardian as well as offering his insights into the European game for talkSPORT and talkSPORT2.

Barcelona

- La Liga champions by 14 points in 2017/18, completed double by winning Copa del Rey
- Five-times European Cup winners, knocked out by Roma in quarter-finals last season
- Won the Spanish Super Cup already this season, two wins out of two in La Liga

Andy Brassell: "For Barcelona, the Champions League is a massive deal this year. Lionel Messi has said as such and since they last won it in 2015, they haven’t even come close. The way they went out against Roma last season, having been 4-1 up in the first leg, saw them heavily criticised back in Spain. They feel like this is something they need to put right.

"A lot of people thought that even though Barcelona completely bossed Real Madrid in La Liga, Real Madrid had the more successful season because they won the Champions League and the Champions League is the pinnacle. I think you have to put it in perspective though. At the start of last season, Barcelona weren’t favourites for the league, Real Madrid were by far favourites, so for Barca to win the league, especially after losing Neymar, and win it so comprehensively and go on and complete the double, it was actually a very good season. Also bear in mind that the player brought in to replace Neymar, Ousmane Dembele, was injured after two games.

"Ernesto Valverde also brought in some ideas from outside the bubble and that’s what worked for them last season. For a lot of last season, they played 4-4-2 which for a lot of Barcelona fans and certainly ‘Cruyffians’ (Johan Cruyff, legendary former Barcelona player and manager) would think of as heresy, but it really worked for them.

"If you look at them this season they have Dembele fit and starting the season very nicely with a couple of goals, including a brilliant goal to win the Spanish Super Cup against Sevilla, Philippe Coutinho’s in for the whole season (after joining from Liverpool in Janaury), Malcom has come in (from Bordeaux) for a bit of cover up front. They’ve got options. At the start of last season, Luis Suarez wasn’t very fit but they had to use him because they didn’t have any other option, especially after Dembele was injured. They've also signed Arturo Vidal (from Bayern Munich) who’s got really good experience to cover Paulinho's departure.

"They know they’ve got quite an old starting 11 but when you look at their transfers, apart from Vidal for Paulinho which was pretty much one-in, one-out, they’ve gone for very young players like Malcom, Clément Lenglet from Sevilla and Arthur who came over from Brazil. They’re trying to make the team younger but at the same time, even though they have an eye on the future, they do think very much that the time is now."

PSV Eindhoven

- Dutch Eredivisie champions last season
- European Cup winners in 1988
- Started 18/19 league campaign with three wins out of three

Andy Brassell: "Mark van Bommel is someone who knows PSV very well. He had two very successful periods there as a player. I think you have to look at them and say they’ve got everything so right in terms of how they’ve tried to follow up from last season because it was a great effort to win the title back and they did very well last season. Phillip Cocu had provided a lot of stability but then went (to Fenerbahce at the end of last season) and van Bommel took over.

"PSV have prepared really well for this season and they've started impressively. They signed well. They were able to get Nick Viergever who was probably Ajax’s best defender to come across and join them. They’ve held onto Gastón Pereiro and Hirving Lozano, who obviously had a very good World Cup as well with Mexico.

"It’s a stable team, a team that knows each other. Most people expect them to finish bottom of the group, I think that’s pretty clear, just because of the other names involved. PSV create a really good atmosphere at home at Philips Stadion. Like I said, there’s that stability there and even though van Bommel’s come in and he’s a first-timer at this sort of level, at the same time, he’s very familiar with the Champions League and he’s very familiar with the Club which definitely helps."

FC Internazionale Milan

- Back in the Champions League for first time since 2011/12 after finishing fourth in Serie A last season
- European Cup winners 1964, 1965, 2010
- A draw and defeat so far in Serie A

"Inter really needed to get back in the Champions League. It’s the first time they’ve qualified since 2011/12, which is unbelievable really. They made it after beating Lazio on the final day of last season to finish fourth and that has enabled them to build on the good things they did last season.

"Luciano Spalletti’s got an extension to his contract and he’s a very good coach, there’s no doubt about that. They kept Ivan Perisic, who was obviously so good last season and especially for Croatia at the World Cup. They’ve held onto Mauro Icardi and they’ve also signed well.

"Šime Vrsaljko came across from Atletico Madrid, Radja Nainggolan came across from Roma. They’ve got more punch up front with Matteo Politano (on loan from Sassulolo) who’s better at right-wing than what they’ve had before. You could look at the team and think this is a side that could try and push Juventus - yet on the other hand they’ve started this season quite badly. Two games in and they’ve got one point. They threw away a 2-0 lead at Torino already...they do find a way to slip up in the most unlikely situations.

“I know they’re a massive name, and they have a very good squad but I think, certainly on paper, they’re a little bit fragile and they’re not used to playing week in, week out in the league and Champions League. It’s going to be a big difference for them and it’s going to be something that they’re going to have to deal with. How that shakes out into a two-system team who can really compete in what will be a really difficult group, I don’t know."

Andy's thoughts overall

"Looking at the group as a whole, I think Barcelona and Spurs are the quite clear favourites. That’s not to say that Inter and PSV can’t cause problems, but I think there is a significant gap. Spurs are getting established in the Champions League and have significant Champions League experience compared to the Inter squad, for example. That counts for a lot."