Barça will play their qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League this Wednesday in two games that are played at the same time in two very different scenarios and bad memories for the Barça fans such as Munich and Lisbon (21.00, Movistar LC). Barcelona fans associate the Portuguese capital and the German champion with a 2-8 score. Bayern unleashed an unstoppable storm in August 2020 at the Da Luz stadium that had already developed in the downpours in Rome and Liverpool. The azulgrana club has been sustained in Europe for a long time with Messi’s umbrella. The game of 10, however, has left Barcelona out in the open in the League and especially in Europe.

Barça needs to win on the German court, a result that has not occurred in its five visits – three defeats and two draws – or in case of equalizing or losing at the Allianz Arena it will be at the expense of the Lisbon scoreboard: if Benfica is Imposes Dinamo, last classified in the group – he tied in Kiev -, the azulgranas are only worth beating Bayern or they will be eliminated in the group stage, something that has not happened since 2000-01, and exiled to the Europa League. The budget, which contemplates reaching the rooms or the losses will increase by 20.2 million, and the Barça brand will be seriously damaged with the elimination of the team that Xavi directs.

Although there is tension in Benfica after losing against Sporting and Jorge Jesús does not think of drawing or losing with Dinamo, the Portuguese are also very expectant with the Bayern formation, which will not be able to count on Kimmich, Goretzka, Choupo -Moting, Sabitzer and Gnabry. The game, in addition, will be played without an audience, behind closed doors due to the covid. “Don’t worry in Lisbon because we will play with the best team,” replied coach Nagelsmann. “We know that we are already first but we want to win all six games,” he adds, also aware that Bayern already thrashed 0-3 at the Camp Nou.

The German dilemma is not Barça or Benfica but Bayern. It is usually enough for the Germans to be able to have Lewandowski, who scores more goals than all of Barça (27 to 25), and Müller, who has sworn it to the Catalans, author of seven goals, undetectable for most of the technicians from the Camp Nou. Cruyff, Van Gaal, Guardiola, Tito Vilanova and Luis Enrique could never conquer the Bayern court. Now Xavi appears with an unbalanced squad and is missing especially forwards due to the injuries of Braithwaite and Ansu Fati.

The coach has no alternative but to entrust himself to Memphis, unprecedented as a striker in Europe, and to Dembélé, who has not played an entire match for seven months, capable of further revolutionizing Barça’s impatient game. Xavi’s team can be challenged by urgency, tempered by the lack of control in the areas: he has only scored two goals in the five Champions League games, both against Dynamo Kiev (Piqué and Ansu).

The defeat against Betis was also a trigger for a squad encouraged by the illusion generated by their promises and by Xavi’s speech. So no one surrenders beforehand to the fearsome Bayern, not even after remembering that from time to time, for example against Ausburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach or Eintracht Frankfurt, they do not have the day and who knows if it can also happen again against him. Barça.

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