Barcelona’s unbeaten start to the new campaign will be on the line when they visit the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The Blaugrana have won five straight games in all competitions, with Xavi Hernandez’s side creating numerous chances, scoring goals and conceding just two in the process. They dispatched Viktoria Plzen 5-1 in their opening Champions League group-stage encounter, thanks to a fantastic Robert Lewandowski hat-trick.
Xavi’s Barcelona are riding high on confidence and will head to Bayern Munich on the back off a 4-0 success over Cadiz FC in La Liga.
Barcelona Team News
Barcelona travel to Germany with a full-strength squad as boss Xavi Hernandez has no injury concerns ahead of the game.
Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso made their debuts against Cadiz FC and have been included in the travelling team. Sergi Roberto missed the last La Liga fixture due to an injury but has recovered in time to fly with the squad.
Predicted Barcelona Lineup vs Bayern Munich (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
Marc Andre ter Stegen is a safe bet in the Barcelona goal, but the German shot-stopper will need to be at his sublime best to stop Bayern from scoring.
Defence
In defence, there are no second thoughts about Jules Kounde at right-back and Eric Garcia partnering Ronald Araujo in central defence. The trio has fixed their places at the back with some impressive displays.
The main question, however, comes at left-back, with young Alejandro Balde doing very well this season to keep out Jordi Alba. Going by the magnitude of the fixture, Xavi could go with the experience of Alba over Balde’s youthfulness at left-back in the Barcelona lineup.
Midfield
Sergio Busquets is expected to anchor the Blaugrana midfield. One of the first names on the team sheet, the Spaniard will have the onus of controlling the tempo of the game against the Bavarians.
Pedri has seemingly locked his place in the starting XI, and the youngster’s presence will give Barcelona a lot of energy and bite in midfield. Frenkie de Jong has made a case for himself with a couple of strong displays in the last two games. However, there is a chance of De Jong dropping out of the Barcelona lineup for Gavi, who has picked up some form after a slow start to the season.
Attack
Robert Lewandowski has become the go-to guy for Barcelona up front since arriving from Bayern Munich this summer. With six goals in the last five league games, he will be a man on a mission against his former employers.
Lewandowski will have plenty of attacking quality around him. Ousmane Dembele should grab one of the two wide positions in the Barcelona lineup, and the Frenchman will look to cause problems with his pace, dribbling skills and movement.
Raphinha and Ansu Fati are playing very well at the moment and both deserve to start at the Allianz Arena. However, Xavi could go with Raphinha on the right flank with Fati acting as a possible wildcard later in the game.
