Preview Barcelona vs Bayern Munich: The fate of the Blaugrana

Barcelona will host Bayern Munich in the Champions League. (Photo: Twitter @FCBarcelona)

JAKARTA - Barcelona will undergo a decisive match against Bayern Munich on the fifth matchday of Group C of the 2022/2023 European Champions League at Camp Nou, Thursday, October 27 in the morning WIB.

Xavi Hernandez's team is currently in third place in the group standings. They collect only four points or three points behind Inter Milan in the second position.

Mathematically, the Blaugrana still have hope of reaching the knockout stages of Europe's most elite club competition. However, the chance is very small because they have to rely on Inter's result against Viktoria Plzen.

If the Nerazzurri manage to get all three points at home to Plzen, Barcelona's hopes will automatically disappear. Despite winning over Bayern this morning and Plzen in the last match of the group stage, they are still certain to not qualify for the knockout stages.

Interestingly, Inter and Plzen will play first tonight at the Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy. Meanwhile, Barcelona only played their home games not long after the Inter and Plzen match finished.

Thus, if Inter succeeds in winning over Plzen, the Blaugrana's spirit in front of their own supporters will instantly dim. The match will be tasteless even if they end it with a win.

"We don't depend on ourselves, that's a shame. When you don't depend on yourself, you're not so positive anymore. The situation is uncomfortable but we have to go out and win. Indeed, we weren't that positive, but it's human and logical, "Xavi said as reported by Football Espana.

If managed to win over Bayern this morning, Xavi's squad can still collect ten points with one game remaining. They can reach that number of points if in the last match they can win over Plzen.

The same collection of points is likely to be obtained by Inter if they win tonight and lose to Bayern in the last match. However, the Italian giants have the right to the next round for winning head-to-head with the Catalunya team.

Of their two meetings during the preliminary round, Barcelona has never won. They lost 0-1 on the visit to the San Siro and then only shared the points after drawing 3-3 at the Camp Nou Stadium.

This situation makes Barcelona hope for a miracle Plzen do at home to Inter and they should get a win over Bayern. However, that scenario is somewhat improbable as the Blaugrana have only picked up one point from the last three matches.

They lost back-to-back to Bayern and Inter before being held to a draw in the last game. The Nerazzurri also look like they can easily win over Plzen tonight because the Czech representatives are still bottom of the table without collecting points.

“More than a miracle, we have a small hope. The situation is very uncomfortable and there are a lot of statistics that say we are not going through it. But the game has to be played. Sometimes the rightful one doesn't win or something unexpected happens. Why not?", Xavi said.

If they fail to qualify, this will be the second season in a row that the Blaugrana have failed to reach the last 16. Last season, they had to go down to the Europa League after finishing third behind Bayern Munich and Benfica.

Formation Estimate

Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Bellerin, Kunde, E Garcia, Alonso; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Gavi

Coach: Xavi Hernandez

Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Ulreich; Pavard, Upamecano, De Ligt, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Coman, Musala, Gnabry; Mane

Coach: Julian Nagelsmann