Thierry Henry makes 'painful' FC Barcelona Champions League prediction amid stark Arsenal contrast

Barcelona began the League Phase with an impressive 2-1 victory over Newcastle away from home, but have won just once in the competition since and that was the thrashing of Olympiacos on matchday three.

Either side of that result, Hansi Flick’s side were beaten by reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain before being held to a 3-3 draw by Club Brugge on Wednesday night.

As things stand, Barca sit 11th in the Champions League table, though they are in within striking distance of an automatic qualification place for the round of 16 with games against Chelsea, Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Prague and Copenhagen still to play.

While the Catalan giants will be confident of reaching the knockout phase, Henry believes his former club will not be serious contenders for the crown unless they improve defensively.

Speaking on CBS Sports, the legendary Frenchman said: “The co-ordination [in defence] is so bad. You can’t win the Champions League like this, it’s very difficult.

“It’s this game [against Club Brugge], it’s against Paris Saint-Germain, last year it was against Benfica, then it was the Clasico, then it was Inter.

“As we all know, I played for Arsenal, I played for Juve, I won a lot of stuff at Barcelona, for me to say that… it pains me to say that because I don’t want to talk about my old club like that.

“But you have to call a spade a spade. You can’t carry on defending like this. Every time hoping to score three or four, to be the team, not now, not in the modern era of football, you can’t defend like that.”

Barcelona have conceded seven goals in four Champions League matches so far this season and have not kept a clean sheet in any competition since the 3-0 win over Getafe in September.

By contrast, Henry other former club Arsenal are yet to concede in this season’s League Phase and are on a run of eight straight games without conceding a goal.

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