Ahead of Barcelona's Champions League Group Stage clash against Bayern Munich, manager Xavi Hernandez spoke about the Catalan club's chances and Robert Lewandowski's state of mind.
Few things in football are better than a good reunion story, and on Tuesday night, the Allianz Arena will be host to an emotional 'homecoming' when Robert Lewandowski returns but as a Barcelona player. The Polish superstar's nine goals and two assists in his first six games for the Catalan club have disproved any claims that he was little more than a Bundesliga stat-padder when playing for Bayern Munich.
Despite being 34 years old, Lewandowski is a lean, mean, goal-scoring machine with plenty of gas in the tank and a voracious appetite in his stomach. This is terrible news for his former team Bayern Munich, who have lost three straight Bundesliga games and are off to their worst league-season start in 12 years.
Ahead of the clash, Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez has insisted that his team's 'mentality' has improved since the Catalan club faced Bayern Munich last season. The Spaniard also spoke about former Bavarian legend Robert Lewandowski's role and state of mind when the two giants face each other in their Champions League 2022-23 group stage clash on Tuesday.
Speaking to the press ahead of the high-octane clash between the European giants, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez discussed the changes that have come about at Camp Nou since their last meeting. "A lot of things but I think the mentality. That day we talked a lot after that game and I said we are Barca and that here we needed to run and show our personality, our character and give it our all out on the pitch. I think the first 20 minutes went well, but yes our mentality has changed," the Spanish legend said.
"You can lose a game, but we want to impose our style of play, because we are Barca. So I think we have changed in our personality and mentality. Of course the transfers have helped, and the wins that give us more confidence, but the mentality of the players has changed a lot," the Barcelona boss added.
Xavi Hernandez also reflected upon Robert Lewandowski's first game against his former club, insisting that the Polish superstar is 'motivated' to make a difference in what is expected to be a mouth-water encounter. "Robert's great. He's calm, relaxed, he's confident. He's a natural leader for us. It'll be a special game for him and he'll be motivated. I rested him the other day so he's fresh," the Barcelona boss remarked.
"We have Robert with us and he's very important but we have other players too. Robert also applies the high press well, has a good understanding, his timing and speed gives us a lot, he understands how to find the free man. He understands the game very well. Not just Robert, also our wingers and midfielders. We have a lot of weapons in attack," Xavi Hernandez added.
"Given our recent results we come here with all the humility in the world but we suffered a lot last season here so tomorrow we want to compete very well. That's what will leave me happy, if the players show our true potential which is different from the one we had last season, and leave behind the past results. I think we have a possibility to win tomorrow," the Barcelona manager concluded.
Perhaps Lewandowski's goals were more significant to Bayern Munich than we realised. While they defeated Inter Milan on the road in the Champions League last week, Julian Nagelsmann's team could use a victory that gave them more self-assurance. However, Barcelona is in excellent shape, and if they triumph in Munich, we can say that the good days have returned to Camp Nou for good. The Bavarians have won eight of their 11 Champions League games against the Catalan giants, including their last four in a row. Against no side have they won more games in the competition.