On Wednesday, Camp Nou will play host to a heavyweight match between Barcelona and Bayern Munich, with the home team's chances of remaining in the Champions League hanging in the balance. Can Robert Lewandowski secure a mircale for Xavi Hernandez's men?
The iconic Camp Nou will host a heavyweight clash between Barcelona and Bayern Munich on Wednesday, with the home team's chances of remaining in the Champions League 2022-23 hanging in the balance. All eyes will be on Xavi Hernandez's men, especially Robert Lewandowski, who will face his former club for the second time this season.
Bayern has a perfect record of four victories out of four and has advanced to the knockout stage. However, after defeating Inter Milan, they would still enjoy taking down another European powerhouse. Inter Milan will play against Viktoria Plzen, and if they win, Barcelona will be eliminated from the Champions League 2022-23 season, sending yet another shockwave among fans. However, if Plzen secures a win and Barcelona beats Bayern Munich, then there's a chance the Catalan club can remain in the competition.
Ahead of the all-crucial clash, Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez addressed the media and emphasized the importance of a win in Wednesday's game. "It's an important match for us, despite the result in Milan. We have to win tomorrow, show our level and take advantage of the opportunities. It does not depend on us, but we have to show tomorrow that we are at the level of these clubs," the Spaniard said.
"We need to keep the same mentality. We have to react in the same way. We must not change our feelings even if we pass to the next round. No matter what happens in Milan, we have to win tomorrow. We must not lose our mental focus, after losing the Clasico, it looked like a disaster, and we recovered the feelings by winning against Villarreal and Bilbao and with a good performance. We have to continue that, and show that we can compete against clubs like Bayern," the Barcelona boss added.
Meanwhile, there's no doubt that Polish striker Lewandowski would want to showcase an impressive performance against his former club tomorrow. Since moving from Allianz Arena to Camp Nou this summer, the 34-year-old striker has scored 17 goals and provided four assists across all competitions. Hence, the superstar hopes to have a great game against the Bavarians, and so do fans of the Catalan club. "3 words for Lewandowski? A winner, incredible quality and a great scorer," said Xavi hoping that the Poland international comes good.
Barcelona star Pedri stated that Barcelona did not expect to be in this situation in the Champions League but added that the La Liga giants still have some hope. "We didn't expect what has happened to us in the Champions League this season. But it happened this way, and it's a pity. There is nothing we can do now, although we have little hope for the result of Viktoria Plzen and Inter. We have to wait and see what happens. But we are aware that it is really complicated," the Spanish sensation said.
"As long as it (miracle) can happen, we have to believe. We know that it is very, very difficult for that to happen and that we would need a lot of luck. But we have to be prepared. I think that in the game against Bayern, despite the result, we played a good game, but we just didn't score. In the others, we weren't at ease and didn't dominate as we like to. It's been a bad run of form and we need to improve so that we can win future important games," Pedri said.
Also read: Polish icon Lewandowski's pledge to wear Ukrainian armband at World Cup 2022 wins hearts
Barcelona's predicted lineup (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Bellerin, Kounde, E Garcia, Alonso; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Gavi.
Bayern Munich's predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Ulreich; Pavard, Upamecano, De Ligt, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Coman, Musiala, Gnabry; Mane.
In India, the game kicks-off at 12:30 am on October 27.