FC Barcelona (18th, 7pts) vs Eintracht Frankfurt (28th, 4pts)*
*Standings at beginning of Matchday
Competition/Round: 2025-26 UEFA Champions League, League Phase, Matchday 6
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Ronald Araujo, Gavi, Dani Olmo (out), Marc-André ter Stegen (doubt)
Frankfurt Outs & Doubts: Jonathan Burkardt, Michy Batshuayi (out)
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Wednesday)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Davide Massa (ITA)
VAR: Marco Di Bello (ITA)
How to watch on TV: TUDN (USA), TNT Sports 4 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: Paramount+ (USA), discovery+ (UK), Sony LIV (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following an excellent win in La Liga over Real Betis at the weekend to continue their strong recent run of form, Barcelona return to European action for a massive Champions League game as the Catalans welcome Eintracht Frankfurt to the Gratest Stadium on Earth for their sixth league phase match on Tuesday night.
This is the first Champions League game at Camp Nou in 1,140 days since a 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich, and Barça’s first European match of any kind at their iconic home since February 2023, when one Marcus Rashford led Manchester United to a 2-2 draw in the Europa League Playoffs.
Barça come into this one on the back of two of their best wins of the season against Betis and Atlético Madrid, with the kind of devastating attacking football we saw last season and a notable improvement defensively despite conceding two dumb late goals in Seville.
This is undoubtedly the best Barça have looked all season with some serious improvement shown since the defeat at Stamford Bridge, but they still need to prove they can play well in Europe. The Blaugrana have struggled in the Champions League in virtually every game, so a strong performance in this one is needed along with the three points that will keep their slim hopes of a Top 8 finish alive.
And there’s no better opportunity to get back on track than this one: Frankfurt have conceded an astonishing 44 goals in 20 games in all competitions this season, and have a truly dreadful defense that’s been especially exposed in Europe with two separate 5-1 defeats to Atlético and Liverpool as well as a 3-0 loss to Atalanta at home. Their last game was an embarrassing 6-0 defeat away to RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, and there’s a whole lot of soul-searching going on at one of the most proud and historic clubs in Germany.
The only thing Frankfurt have going for them right now is their incredible fanbase, who were heavily involved in one of the darkest recent nights in Barça history: back in April 2022, the Catalans faced Frankfurt in the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals and Frankfurt fans invaded Camp Nou, buying tickets from Barça “fans” who couldn’t be bothered to support their team. At least 30,000 Frankfurt supporters took over the stadium, and watched their team eliminate Barça on their way to winning the Europa League that season.
Barça have taken all necessary steps to ensure another Frankfurt invasion doesn’t happen again on Tuesday, but there’s no doubt that the Frankfurt fans who do find a way into the stadium, hopefully only in their designated section, will make a whole lot of noise to try and push their team to pull off a miracle considering the circumstances.
The Blaugrana are the obvious favorites, but they can’t take Frankfurt’s defense for granted and must play with the same intensity and attacking creativity as we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. Frankfurt have enough pace and skill up front to cause Barça problems on the counter if their defense somehow finds a way to keep things close early on, and it’s up to the home team to create and finish their chances early to avoid any unnecessary drama.
This will be a special night as the Champions League anthem will be heard (and probably booed to continue the tradition) at Camp Nou for the first time in far too long, and Barça will be hungry to continue their good vibes and pick up three major points in Europe.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan; Kounde, Cubarsí, Martín, Balde; Eric, Pedri; Roony, Yamal, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Frankfurt (3-4-3): Zetterer; Amenda, Koch, Theate; Kristensen, Larsson, Chaïbi, Brown; Doan, Knauff, Götze
PREDICTION
It’s very easy to just assume Barça will dominate this one given their form and Frankfurt’s dreadful defense, but Barça have struggled in Europe all season and Frankfurt still have enough attacking talent to make this interesting. But I’m trusting the Blaugrana have finally found a winning formula in recent games and will pick up a big continental victory: 4-1 to the home team.
