Fresh from a lacklustre 2-2 draw against Stuttgart on Saturday, Bayern Munich will turn their attention to a home fixture against Barcelona on Tuesday 13 September. These two teams last played each other last season in a Champions League group stage fixture which Bayern Munich won 3-0 at the Allianz Arena.
Barcelona is currently sitting first in the group, whereas Bayern Munich are second. Bayern Munich need to win against Barcelona as they are behind them on the table on goal difference.
Bayern Munich is not the clear favourite:
There is no clear favourite coming into this encounter as both sides can threaten each other. The Bavarians have not done so well this season after the departure of Lewandowski who ironically joined Barcelona. In the Bundesliga they have have drawn three of their six games which is quite underwhelming. Barcelona have done quite well winning four and drawing once in their five La Liga games putting them in second place.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona’s recent results:
The Bavarian’s most recent Champions League fixture ended in a relatively comfortable 0-2 win against Inter Milan at the San Siro. A goal from Sane and an own goal from D’Ambrosio sealed the deal for Bayern on the day. Barcelona’s most recent Champions League fixture was a emphatic 5-1 win at home to Viktoria Plzen.
Team News:
The Bavarians did not pick up any further injuries after the weekend so they have a near fully fit squad. Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane should both come back into the side after resting on the weekend, while Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez are expected to come back into the back four.
Gnabry could replace Coman in the only change to the Bayern team that faced Inter last midweek.
Barcelona ,meanwhile, have a fully fit squad for the game at Allianz Arena. Sergio Roberto could come back from the injury that put him out of the weekends game against Cadiz.
Possible Lineups:
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Manuel Neuer; Benjamin Pavard, Matthijs De Ligt, Lucas Hernandez, Alphonso Davies; Joshua Kimmich, Marcel Sabitzer; Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane; Sadio Mane
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Marc Andre Ter Stegen; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, Alejandro Balde; Gavi, Sergio Busquets, Pedri; Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele
Unavailable: Bayern Munich – Kingsley Coman and Bouna Sarr (injured), Barcelona (fully fit squad).
Prediction:
Bayern Munich 2-2 Barcelona
Xavi got what he wanted in the preseason in relation to signings .This has resulted in Barca only drawing one of their five games. The Bavarians have not started well drawing three of the six games they have played in the Bundesliga. The Bavarians have not played a team as good as Barcelona this season so I expect them to struggle. It will be intriguing to see how Lewandowski does against his former team.
Important match information:
Teams: Bayern Munich vs Barcelona
Stadium: Allianz Arena
Competition: Uefa Champions League
Date : Tuesday 13th September
Channel : BT Sport