BATE bid to ensure no Barcelona repeat

FC BATE Borisov will hope to avoid a repeat of their fate when they last met FC Barcelona as the teams face off again in Group E.

Previous meetings
• Barcelona put nine goals past BATE when the clubs met in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Belarus played their home fixture in Minsk where Lionel Messi (2), Pedro Rodríguez and David Villa scored and Aleksandr Volodko contributed an own goal in a 5-0 Barcelona triumph. Back at Camp Nou, Sergi Roberto hit his first UEFA Champions League goal and Pedro (2) and Martín Montoya also scored as Barça prevailed 4-0.

• The lineups for the first encounter, played on 28 September 2011, were:
BATE: Gutor, Baga, Simić, Filipenko, Bordachev, Olekhnovich, Volodko, Kontsevoi, Bressan (Kurlovich 82), Rudik (Aleksiyan 60), Kežman (Skavysh 56).
Barcelona: Valdés, Dani Alves, Mascherano, Puyol, Abidal (Adriano 61), Thiago Alcántara, Keita, Xavi (Fàbregas 60), Pedro (Maxwell 69), Messi, Villa.

Match background

BATE
• BATE's 3-2 victory over Roma on matchday two brought their first points in Group E following their opening 4-1 loss at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

• The Belarusian champions' win against Roma was their fourth in a row at home in this season's competition. They had previously overcome Dundalk FC (2-1), Videoton FC (1-0) and FK Partizan (1-0) in the qualifying rounds and play-offs.

• BATE lost their first eight matches against Spanish clubs before a 2-1 home win over Athletic Club in last term's UEFA Champions League group stage. The goals that night by Denis Polyakov and Aleksandr Karnitski were their first at home against visitors from Spain.

• Including their subsequent 2-0 defeat in Bilbao, BATE's overall record against Liga sides is W1 D0 L9.

Barcelona
• Luis Enrique's reigning champions lead Group E with four points having come from behind to defeat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 at home last time out.

• Including the 1-1 draw at AS Roma on matchday one, Barcelona have scored in each of their last seven away games in the UEFA Champions League.

Coach and player links
• Home coach Aleksandr Yermakovich was captain of the first BATE team to face Spanish opposition in a 4-1 defeat at Villarreal CF in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup first round first leg. Dmitri Likhtarovich and Maksim Zhavnerchik also played, with the latter scoring. Vitali Rodionov joined that trio for the second leg – a 2-0 home defeat.

• Aleksandr Hleb spent 2008/09 with Barcelona, making 19 Liga appearances and winning the Spanish Liga. He made another nine appearances in their triumphant UEFA Champions League campaign but not the final.

• Hleb was a substitute in the Arsenal side beaten by Barcelona in the 2006 final. He appeared for VfB Stuttgart against the Blaugrana in the 2009/10 round of 16 (1-1 h, 0-4 a).

• Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba played in Spain's 1-0 win in Belarus at the Borisov-Arena in a UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier on 14 June. Hleb, Maksim Volodko and substitute Igor Stasevich appeared for the hosts.

• Busquets had previously scored in Spain's 3-0 home win against Belarus in November 2014.

• Ivan Rakitić scored the only goal in Croatia's 1-0 home win over Belarus in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Match facts

BATE
• BATE clinched a tenth straight Belarusian title on Friday by winning 2-0 at FC Vitebsk.

• BATE are five games unbeaten since their matchday one reverse in Germany, winning four with one draw.

• Sergei Chernik has kept a Vysshaya Liga best 16 clean sheets in 23 appearances this season. BATE did not concede a goal until their 11th fixture of the 2015 campaign.

• Twelve of BATE's 26 wins in all competitions this year have been 1-0.

• Five BATE players – Polyakov, Volodko, Stasevich, Mikhail Gordeichuk and Nikolai Signevich – featured in Belarus's concluding UEFA EURO 2016 qualifiers against Slovakia (1-0) and FYR Macedonia (0-0).

• Rodionov is expected to return in early November from the knee injury he sustained against Partizan on 26 August.

Barcelona
• Marc-André ter Stegen has conceded 17 goals in eight appearances this season – one more than he let in during 21 outings last term.

• Barcelona have conceded four goals on three occasions in 2015/16: against RC Celta de Vigo on 23 September, Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup and Sevilla FC in the UEFA Super Cup.

• Rafinha (knee), injured on matchday one, was ruled out for six months after undergoing surgery on 22 September.

• Messi sustained a knee injury against UD Las Palmas on 26 September and was subsequently ruled out for seven to eight weeks.

• The Blaugrana have lost their last two away fixtures – at Sevilla (1-2) and Celta (1-4).

• Andrés Iniesta (hamstring) has not played since going off an hour into Barcelona's triumph on matchday two.

• Neymar scored four goals in Saturday's 5-2 home win against Rayo Vallecano de Madrid and has found the net eight times in his last eight Barcelona appearances.