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A pair of teams that have both been crowned Champions League winners in the last six years will meet in the first leg of the Round of 16 on Tuesday, as La Liga leaders Barcelona travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea.
In the United States, the match starts at 2:45 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1. If you don’t have cable or a cable log-in, you can watch the game live online by signing up for a free trial of one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
FuboTV: Fox Sports 1 is included in the “Fubo Premier” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch the game live on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
Hulu With Live TV: In addition to an extensive Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu now also offers a bundle of live TV channels, including Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and then you can watch a live stream of FS1 on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
DirecTV Now: Fox Sports 1 is included in each of the four main channel packages. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial no matter what package you choose, plus you can get a free Amazon Fire TV if you prepay two months. Once signed up, you can watch the game live on your computer via the DirecTV Now website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app.
Sling TV: Fox Sports 1 is included in the “Sling Blue” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch the game live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
Preview
It’s been a rough calendar year for Chelsea. The chances of catching Manchester City atop the Premier League table were always slim, but bad losses to Bournemouth (0-3 at home) and Watford (4-0 away) have them in a tight battle for a Top 4 spot. They’re just 4-5-3 across all competition in 2018, and now the difficulty is about to get turned up to “Legendary.”
“The other team are very dangerous, so we have to work as a team to try and stop Barcelona: Messi, Suarez, [Andres] Iniesta… the whole team of Barcelona,” Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said. “We have to work very hard. We have to know that, during the game, we must be prepared to suffer. But, at the same time, we must have the idea to go and score at any moment.
“I repeat: we are talking about a tough game against a special opponent, a very strong opponent. For this reason, we must pay great attention.”
On the domestic front, Barcelona is aiming for multiple trophies. They have an absurd plus-51 goal differential and a seven-point lead on Atletico Madrid in La Liga, and in early February they secured a spot in the Copa del Rey final with a couple of succinct performances against Valencia. Not only do they have the attacking firepower that everyone knows about with Messi, Luis Suarez, Paulinho and January transfer Philippe Coutinho (cup-tied, so he won’t be playing in this match), but the defense has been extremely stout, allowing just 13 goals across 32 La Liga and Copa del Rey matches.
Still Barca manager Ernesto Valverde knows his team can’t take Chelsea lightly.
“We wish Chelsea had finished first in their group so we didn’t have to play them,” he said. “They’re the Premier League champions, a very strong team there on merit. English teams this year are in incredible form, much better than in previous years. Chelsea might be the same. We know that, because the English have such a strong league, they’ll all be up there competing.”
Though Chelsea has been overall inconsistent in 2018, it is worth noting they have piled up seven goals–three against West Brom, four against Hull–in their last two matches and appear to be figuring things out after a rough stretch of play. Whether or not that translates to success against Barcelona–who are very much not West Brom and Hull–remains to be seen, but it should be an entertaining first leg.
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