Barcelona avoid blip in Prague to maintain Champions League top eight hope

Barcelona come from behind to beat Prague" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="16143" data-entity-type="organization">Slavia Prague 4-2 to maintain their hopes of a top eight finish in the league phase.Published On 21 Jan 2026Barcelona came from behind to defeat Prague" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="16143" data-entity-type="organization">Slavia Prague 4-2 on a freezing night in the Champions League, with Fermin Lopez scoring twice and Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski adding second-half goals to secure the victory.The win on Wednesday lifts Barcelona to ninth place in the standings with one game ⁠remaining on 13 points, level with seven other teams vying for a top-eight finish and direct qualification for the round ​of 16. Slavia languish third from bottom with just three points.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4AFCON: To walk or not to walk?list 2 of 4ICC won’t relocate Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup games from Indialist 3 of 4Maccabi football fans and the ousting of a UK police chief – why it matterslist 4 of 4‘I didn’t set out to break records’: Pakistan’s first female MMA fighterend of listOn a bitterly cold evening in ‍Prague, with temperatures dropping to -8 degrees Celsius (17.6 degrees Fahrenheit), Slavia stunned the visitors with an early lead.A cleverly worked corner in the 10th minute saw Tomas Holes flick a delivery from the near to the far post, where Vasil Kusej bundled the ball across the line ‍under pressure from ⁠Frenkie de Jong.Barcelona levelled in the 34th minute through Lopez, who unleashed a sharp, angled strike from inside the box, squeezing the ball past keeper Jindrich Stanek at the near post after a faint deflection off the Slovak’s shoulder.Lopez doubled his tally and gave Barcelona the lead in the 42nd minute with a fine effort from the edge of the box. The attacking midfielder found the bottom right corner with precision, leaving Stanek no chance.Barca’s advantage lasted just two minutes as an unfortunate defensive mishap saw Slavia equalise. ​Under pressure defending a corner, Lewandowski inadvertently deflected the ball off his shoulder and into ‌his own net to send the teams into half-time level at 2-2.