Ahead of Tuesday's high-octane Champions League clash between Bayern Munich and Barcelona, the Bundesliga giants' President Herbert Hainer spoke at length about the upcoming encounter and whether the fans will give former star Robert Lewandowski a proper welcome.
Tuesday's UEFA Champions League 2022-23 clash between Bayern Munich and Barcelona is expected to be a mouth-watering encounter, and all eyes will be on Robert Lewandowski, who will face his former club for the first time since his transfer to Camp Nou. Ahead of the Group C encounter at Allianz Arena, the Bavarians' President Herbert Hainer spoke about the upcoming match and the Polish superstar's 'home coming'.
This season, Barcelona has played six games. After drawing their debut clash, Xavi Hernandez's men have won five straight matches and have scored 20 goals while allowing just two. Of course, Lewandowski has been a stand-out. The Polish striker has been in excellent form this year, scoring nine goals, including a hat-trick in their Champions League game against Viktor Plzen. He's already made his home in Catalonia.
On the other hand, Bayern Munich has experienced a different kind of season opening. They haven't played well and have only won three of their six games. However, they have scored an incredible 19 goals and dominated Inter Milan in their opening Champions League match.
Speaking about the clash between Bayern Munich and Barcelona, former's President Herbert Hainer insisted that while the Catalan club might have had difficulties against his team in the recent past, the match on Tuesday will hardly be anything like that. "Barca are coming back, they have a great team even now, and they are such a big club!" he told SPORT.
"I don't think it will repeat itself. Back then, in 2020, we caught Barcelona at a good moment, and then we were in captivating form, everything was going very well for us. But Barca is much stronger this year than two years ago, Laporta is the right president to return Barca to where it should be, and I expect an even game. Of course, I expect a win, but I expect a very close match," the Bayern Munich president added.
Herbert Hainer also addressed Lewandowski's summer transfer from Bayern Munich to Barcelona, insisting that there was no animosity between the German champions and the talented goal scorer. "That is already a thing of the past. Everything is fine between Robert and FC Bayern, we have talked, and everything is fine. We are looking forward," he said.
The Bayern Munich president also added that he hopes that supporters would give the Pole a proper welcome when he returns to the Allianz Arena tomorrow. "I hope, and that is my great wish, that people are nice to Robert and that he (Lewandowski) has a friendly welcome because he played eight years with us, scored a lot of goals and decided a lot of games. And we won all the big titles," Herbert Hainer said.
"And in the end, everyone got what they wanted: Robert was able to go to Barcelona, Barcelona are happy to have Lewandowski and we have money to invest in our future. Everyone should feel comfortable and I hope that our fans will welcome him," the Bayern Munich president added.
Herbert Hainer said that there were multiple clubs capable of winning the Champions League this season when asked who he thought were the favourites. He also mentioned Barcelona as a potential rival. "You always have to count on Madrid and then on the usual suspects: Manchester City, Liverpool, PSG… and Bayern. In addition, Barca has once again formed a very interesting team: you always have to keep an eye on Barca," the Bayern Munich president concluded.