Barcelona experienced plenty of problems since the opening 1-1 draw with AS Roma, and they head into the Bayer Leverkusen game hoping to finally record a morale-boosting win.

Die Werkself did well to beat BATE Borisov two weeks ago and have since also managed to get their Bundesliga campaign back on track.

The FIFA transfer ban initially did not appear to be such a big issue as Barcelona kept the majority of last season’s squad together, but several injuries to high-profile players have since caused major problems.

While Pedro Rodriguez was allowed to join Chelsea, the likes of Leo Messi, Rafinha Alcantara, Dani Alves and Claudio Bravo have either missed or will miss weeks and months of action, meaning that Luis Enrique now has very small squad to choose from.

The talented coach needs to get his team on the right track after the embarrassing 4-1 loss to Celta Vigo, and 2-1 win over Las Palmas at the weekend was not exactly a perfect tonic for said defeat.

The win came at a cost as Lionel Messi suffered an injury that should keep him out of the squad for some tow months, meaning that odds of 1.40 (2/5) offered on home win no longer look tempting.

Daniel Alves should return to the side after recovering from injury, but Jordi Alba is a major doubt and Claudio Bravo, Rafinha and Thomas Vermaelen are definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): ter Stegen – Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Mathieu – Roberto, Busquets, Rakitic – Iniesta, Suarez, Neymar.

Bayer Leverkusen seriously rejuvenated the squad this summer, allowing several experienced players to leave and replacing them with young bet very talented footballers.

The strategy is likely to prove successful in the long run, but with so many inexperienced players in their ranks, some inconsistent performances are not exactly a surprise.

The good news is that die Werkself have recovered from a three-match losing run in the league, defeating Mainz and Werder in their last two games, without conceding a single goal in the process.

Keeping another clean sheet could prove mission impossible when facing Barcelona, but bear in mind that the visitors are 1.73 (8/11) to score at least once at Camp Nou.

There have been no major injury worries for coach Roger Schmidt, but Charles Aranguiz, Tin Jedvaj and Omer Toprak continue to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Leno – Donati, Tah, Papadopoulos, Wendell – Bellarabi, Kramer, Bender, Calhanoglu – Hernandez, Kiessling.