Barcelona vs Bayern Munich predictions and match preview for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League fixture. Read on for analysis and predicted lineups as Xavi’s side aim to stay in the competition.
| Date | Wednesday 26th October 2022 |
| Kick-Off | 21:00 (local time) |
| Stadium | Camp Nou |
| Competition | UEFA Champions League |
Barcelona vs Bayern Munich Preview
This is one of the standout fixtures in the UEFA Champions League group stage and it’s simply a “must win” game for Barcelona. However even if they do finally get the better of Bayern, this could still end up being a bad night for the Catalans who will be eliminated if Inter Milan beat Viktoria Plzen at home, regardless of the result here.
Xavi Hernandez cannot afford to worry too much about that. He will know that the damage has already largely been done by defeat in Munich and just one point from two games against Inter. It is certainly true that Barcelona can count themselves unfortunate to have not collected more points based on their performances in this group. However we have also seen that soft underbelly emerge at times and that will be frustrating for Barcelona fans who were expecting bigger things this season.
Perhaps conscious of that, Xavi opted to play with four midfielders against Athletic at the weekend with Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Pedri all starting. The plan worked a treat as Barcelona raced into a 3-0 lead against the Basque giants with Ferran Torres completing a 4-0 win in the 2nd Half. A similar approach may be taken against Bayern here.
Barcelona did give the German champions a real run for the money back on matchday 2 when they created the better chances at the Allianz Arena. However two Bayern goals in the space of four minutes at the start of the Second Half settled that match and Julian Nagelsmann’s side have a 100% record in what is a very tough group heading into this game.
After losing Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona in the summer, the suspicion was that Bayern may not be quite as competitive this term but they’ve not struggled for goals at all with 13 scored in their 4 UCL outings to date. They have already secured qualification and will win the group if they win here. That will be the target now for Bayern but even if they lose this, they’ll still only need to draw at home against Inter next week to secure top spot.
Possible Lineups (via Sofascore)
Score Prediction: Barcelona 1-2 Bayern Munich
Barcelona still feel like a team that is a work in progress and despite some positive performances, they have come up a bit short against the top sides so far this season. They have to go for this and target the three points, but Bayern are ruthless operators with a fine recent record against this opposition and the visitors may just have the edge again in with their host still dealing with some defensive selection issues.
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