Barcelona analysis with Rob Palmer, Sky Sports

Esteemed Spanish football commentator Rob Palmer takes the seat for our 'Preview from the Press Box' ahead of a huge game against Barcelona in the Champions League at Wembley.

A commentator and presenter, Rob is the voice of La Liga in this country having covered the Spanish league for Sky Sports and other broadcasters for 22 years. He's also a former professional goalkeeper with Derby County.

Barca’s form

Rob: “To be diplomatic, it’s patchy at the moment. They drew at the weekend against Athletic Bilbao, which in isolation isn’t bad because Athletic are a decent team and it’s left them still top of La Liga. Looking from afar, you’d say they are up there with Real and Atletico Madrid and it’s the usual suspects at the top. But you also have to take into account that the weekend before, they lost to Leganes, a tiny team and before that, drew against Girona, one of the mid-table teams. At the moment, it’s unspectacular form. You’ll always get a result like Leganes, but they’ve not really hit the ground running domestically. However, as you will know well at Spurs, they beat PSV 4-0 in the Champions League.”

This game

Rob: “It will have extra significance for Barcelona because Wembley is a special place for them (Barca first won the European Cup at Wembley in 1992 and again in 2011). The heart skips a beat for Catalan folk when you mention Wembley. In some ways, it’s a bit of a homecoming for them. Unfortunately for Spurs, this will give them extra impetus. Also, with the form they’re in, they have a point to prove and back home, looking at the newspapers, there is a lot of scrutiny at the moment."

Barca’s key man

Rob: “I’d like to be really clever and come up with something different than the obvious, Lionel Messi. If you look at last season, the key man is the man they are now missing, Andres Iniesta. He carried them and made the difference. They got one more season out of him that no-one expected. The season before that, he played alternate games. Last season they were clever, he played 60, 65 minutes, the board would go up and he’d done his bit. But it’s Messi. They rested him at the weekend against Athletic Bilbao but only showed they couldn’t do without him, they had to bring him on at 1-0 down and he set-up the equaliser late on. You could try to be deep and meaningful but he’s the man. If Spurs stop him, they will have gone a long way in stopping Barcelona.

"Gerard Pique is also vitally important in holding things together at the back. If he has an off day, you have a chance of scoring goals. Samuel Umtiti is suspended and Sergio Roberto may be injured, so that’s two of the back four potentially out, putting more pressure on Pique.”

Key area

Rob: “I’d say the midfield. If you can stop Barcelona dominating possession and doing that Barcelona thing they do, the pretty passing, then you’ve gone a long way, even if you keep them down to 60% possession. It’s looking a little disjointed. The players who came in like Arturo Vidal, Arthur and Malcolm haven’t really settled and it will take time for them to learn the Barca way. You still have Phillipe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets in there but if Spurs can dominate that balance in midfield, you’ll have a chance. The defence may also be missing two of the regular four.”

Prediction

Rob: “Do you know what? With the run Barcelona are in, I think Spurs have a good chance. I’m going to say Spurs 3-1. You could be catching Barca at the right time.”