Barcelona – Bayern Munich

Barcelona to take crucial points from Bayern

Barcelona play at home against Bayern on Wednesday 26 October. The Catalan club have emerged from a mini crisis with two defeats to tough teams in La Liga. Xavi's side beat Villarreal and Athletic by a combined score of 7-0, producing superb football. Ousmane Dembele stood out in particular. Against the Basques, the Frenchman played one of the best games of his career, scoring four times. An important event for Barcelona is the return of all the injured players. At the moment, there is only one exception - Araujo. Defensive play has become more reliable with the return of Pique to the bench. Barcelona are in great spirits as they prepare for their match against Bayern, but the tournament situation is critical for the Catalan club. Xavi's side have to beat Bayern and are counting on Inter to fail against Vittoria in the parallel encounter. Such an outcome is obviously unlikely. After the fifth round, Barcelona could already be heading for the Europa League. Bayern are also behind them in their mini crisis. There was serious talk back in September about the possible resignation of Julian Nagelsmann. The coach has rectified the situation. Bayern are back on the winning track, winning six of their last seven games. Munich have secured their place in the Champions League play-offs. Also the team is already close to the top of the Bundesliga. There is only one point left to the leader. Bayern have some problems with injured players at the moment. Neuer, Sane and Hernandez are unable to play. The loss of the main goalkeeper is the most painful. Neuer is being successfully replaced by Ullreich for now, but the number two is significantly weaker than the club leader in all components. Bayern have had a relatively easy calendar in recent encounters. Against Borussia Dortmund, there were problems. In other words, against a motivated Barcelona, the Germans do not look like favourites. The bookmakers believe that the Catalans will be able to pick up three points. We can agree on that. It is very important for Xavi to defeat a big European grandee. They need to please the stands after their Champions League debacle and defeat to Real Madrid. Bayern go away without several key players. The question of motivation could also become crucial. It will be difficult for the Germans to tune in without any tournament sense. It is important to remember the first game in Munich. At the time, Bayern won, but Barcelona were no weaker, judging by the number of chances created. The Catalans could have turned the game in their favour, but their performance let them down. At the moment, there is not much difference in class between the giants.