Barça have top spot guaranteed in Group B but there are still other reasons why they will want to sign off the Champions League group stage with a win against Tottenham. Valverde’s team could equal a tournament record which is currently in Bayern Munich’s hands. The German outfit went 29 games without defeat at their Olimpico stadium from March 1998 to April 2002. Barça meanwhile, have not lost a European game at Camp Nou since 1 May 2013, when they crashed, without Messi, 0-3 to Bayern of all people in the semi-final return leg. Heynckes’ went on to lift the trophy that year.
Fortress Camp Nou
Since then, Barça remain unbeaten at home in Europe. They demonstrated their strength at Camp Nou by thrashing Ajax 4-0 in September 2013. The team has scored 87 goals in 28 games – averaging an impressive 3.1 goals per game. Out of those 28 games, two stand out above the rest – the 3-0 win over Bayern in the first leg of the 2014-15 semi-final with an inspired Leo Messi and a mesmerizing run from Neymar which left Barça on course to make the final in Berlin.
The second was the unforgettable 6-1 victory over PSG in the Last 16 return leg in 2016-17. The Blaugranas went into the game need to overturn the 4-0 deficit from the first leg in Paris and responded with goals from Suárez, Messi, Neymar (2) and Sergi Roberto to record their biggest comeback in the competition in club history. There were other big nights at Camp Nou – the 4-0 win against Guardiola’s City, the 6-1 demolition of Roma which included an exhibition display from Neymar-Messi-Suárez; or the two routs against Celtic (6-1 and 7-0) or the 3-0 win over Chelsea last season.
Group toppers since 2006-7
Barça have not lost a Champions League group stage game since the 2009-10 season, when they were rocked by a defeat to Rubin Kazan on Matchday 3. Since then, they’ve registered 25 victories and two draws in the group phase, topping their section in the last 12 editions of the tournament