Barcelona travel to Munich to take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Bayern have scored 14 goals against the Blaugrana in the last three meetings between the sides, including an 8-2 thrashing in the quarter-finals in Lisbon in 2020. The German giants then recorded two more wins over the Catalan club, a couple of 3-0 victories in the 2021-22 group stage.
A lot has changed since then and Barça now possess former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski in attack. Xavi’s side have hit the ground running this season, scoring 20 goals and conceding just two in all competitions. They have won their last five games on the bounce.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm for this match in the dressing room. The staff have been preparing for it for several weeks and the motivation levels are high,” a member of Xavi’s staff told AS about the atmosphere in the Barcelona camp ahead of the game.
Only five players from the last match between the sides are expected to be in the Barcelona starting line-up on Tuesday: Ter Stegen, Ronald Araújo, Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Ousmane Dembélé.
There is a lot of optimism at Camp Nou heading into the clash at the Allianz Arena. Barça beat Cádiz 4-0 at the weekend to move top of La Liga for a few hours until Real Madrid defeated Mallorca 4-1 on Sunday to return to the top of the table.
Barcelona have never won in Munich but Tuesday could be the first time and who would be surprised if it was Lewandowski who came back to haunt his former club?
Barça’s new No.9 has nine goals in six games and he will be confident of adding to his tally against a Bayern side who have drawn three of their six Bundesliga games so far this season.
GSFN
