Three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Bayern Munich | UEFA Champions League

The big game is finally here and Barcelona could not ask for a better moment to step into the hyped clash.

Barcelona and Bayern Munich, over the years, have met innumerable times in the UEFA Champions League. Every subsequent year, the Catalans dish out a slightly improved showing but ultimately fall short and take home a battering.

This year once more, the schedule sees the two teams lock horns and it will be at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys tomorrow night. Both sides have been on great runs of form and enter the game with momentum.

The Catalans belted five goals past Sevilla at the weekend while Bayern put four goals past Stuttgart in their league game. The Germans got 24 hours of added rest before the clash while Hansi Flick’s men boast of the home advantage.

Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Bayern Munich.

The first big European test

Barcelona’s season so far has been as close to flawless as it can be. Two defeats indeed do not look good on the result sheet, but their performances apart from those two understandable slip-ups have been spectacular.

Under Hansi Flick, the Catalans have looked comfortable in defence, red-hot in attack and stable through the midfield with a high press defining their performances to date.

Now comfortable settled in and with the momentum on their side, they step into their first game against a European giant tomorrow night and it will be interesting to see how they fare against an elite opposition.

Bayern Munich are not without their flaws but hold a massive psychological edge over the Blaugrana, especially in recent years.

The Bavarians have won all of their last six games against Barcelona with the Catalans’ last win over the Germans coming back in their MSN era. Further, Bayern have scored 22 goals against Barcelona in the last six meetings compared to the hosts’ four.

A win tomorrow would thus set the team’s wings free and serve as a serious testament to their form this season. They are well capable of dismantling Vincent Kompany’s men this season but it will all boil down to the psychological aspect.

The high defensive line

Barcelona deploy a very high defensive line under Hansi Flick with the centre-backs playing close to the halfway line and the full-backs advanced as false wingers.

While the gamble has paid serious dividends in improving the team’s presence in the final third, it has not come without giving opposition chances to counter-attack and teams with pace have often found paradise on the break.

Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi have indeed been sensational so far, playing the perfect offside trap and not allowing the opposition’s chances to play long balls. Against Bayern Munich, however, it will be a whole new ballgame.

The Germans have one of Europe’s finest attacking trios. Harry Kane, Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise have been in great form with the wingers capable of lashing out vicious counter-attacks when given half a chance.

Jamal Musiala, meanwhile, is a big threat between the lines, creating chaos right outside opposition boxes.

The spotlight, thus, will be on the entire defensive unit tomorrow for keeping the attack at bay will be crucial.

Marc Casado will likely be tasked with controlling Musiala while Cubarsi and Martinez must play out of their skin to keep up with Kane on the break. Jules Kounde must commit forward with caution given Gnabry’s pace.

Who will play as the mediapunta?

Hansi Flick’s lineup for tomorrow’s clash is almost written in stone as he has quickly identified his best XI in the current squad.

Inaki Pena will likely continue in goal and could end up as a weak link on the field. While Wojciech Szczesny would be a great option, it is unlikely that the manager will hand him a debut in such a high-pressure clash.

The defence and the forward three, moreover, have fixed places in the XI with Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal set to continue their rampage in attack.

The question, however, is over the midfield, particularly the mediapunta role. Ideally, Dani Olmo would be the natural pick in the position but the fact that he did not come off the bench against Sevilla suggests that he is still not at his 100%.

It is thus likely that Flick sticks with the Casado-Pedri double-pivot with Fermin Lopez being an option to play as the No. 10. An alternative would be to deploy Frenkie de Jong alongside Casado and play Pedri behind the striker.

With Olmo and Pablo Torre as options to come off the bench, Flick is stacked with options in the department.