A win against Porto will be enough to put Barcelona back in the knockout rounds of the Champions League after two consecutive group-stage eliminations.
It may not be enough, though, to ease the pressure on coach Xavi Hernández, who has struggled to get his team to play well recently.
Barcelona is coming off a stretch that includes a 1-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in its last Champions League game, and a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano in its previous Spanish league match. The team has even produced lackluster performances when winning recent matches. “Things did not go as expected lately,” Xavi said Monday.
“Against Rayo it was better, but we have lacked continuity. Tomorrow is a great opportunity for us. It can be a turning point. I really believe we will be playing better again. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t even be here.”
Barcelona will advance with a win, or with a draw if Shakhtar doesn’t beat Antwerp in the other Group H match on Tuesday. The Catalan club failed to reach the knockout stage in the two seasons after Lionel Messi left the club.
