UEFA Champions League: Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich Preview, Odds, Prediction

Barcelona and Bayern Munich square off on Wednesday night in the central event of the UEFA Champions League this week. With all due respect to all the other teams and matchups, there isn’t a greater and more interesting event in this round. Bayern has six UCL titles, while Barca won one more, so we don’t have to explain anything further. Ahead of Barca is a mission impossible: to win both games until the end of the group stage, but they need Inter not to triumph in the remaining encounters. And that’s hard to expect. As for Bayern, everything is in order with Naglesmann’s crew. 

Preview

Barcelona (+125) is in good shape, beating Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao in the last seven days. The first game ended 3-0, and Sunday’s one 4-0, with Barcelona dominating throughout all 90 minutes, not allowing either of these two rivals to catch a breath. 

Previously, we saw Blaugrana in trouble, playing 3-3 at home to Inter and losing to Real in El Clasico, 3-1. The defense saw numerous problems in these two events, with the rivals exploiting all the flaws Xavi’s crew had and probably still has in that area of the game. 

Barca is playing well at home, not losing the previous nine games this year in Catalonia, and scoring at least two goals in seven of those events. Also, seven of those contests saw three or more goals. 

Bayern Munich (+175) won the past four games, and they are without a loss in the last seven, recording six victories with one draw. The Bavarians netted at least twice in all of these events, reaching up to 27 goals in total.

The Bundesliga champions already had ten road games this season, losing one and winning seven. That sole loss was before the latest international break once Augsburg surprised, 1-0. 

Bayern’s previous three road trips ended with them beating the rivals, Plzen, 2-4, Augsburg in the DFB pokal, 2-5, and Hoffenheim, 0-2. Nagelsmann’s crew scored twice or more away from home on eight occasions. 

Latest News

Christensen and Depay are out for this one due to their respective injuries. Arajuo is out as well.

The Bavarians are without Sane, who is doubtful but probably won’t appear at Camp Nou. Neuer should be ready, yet we believe that Nagelsmann won’t risk anything and put him in. Hernandez and Sarr are injured and out for sure.

Head to Head Games

A few weeks ago, Barcelona was defeated in Munich, even though they dominated during the first 45 minutes. The final result of the game was 2-0 for the Germans. The two units met last year, and Bayern won in both events, 3-0, routinely trashing the dazzled rivals. 

Prediction

There should be plenty of goals involved here. Barcelona is weak in the back line but has a terrific attack, and we might say Bayern has the same disbalance in its lineup. Though, Bayern’s defense is better than Barca’s, but we still think that Blaugrana has the power to score at least one goal. Bayern hitting the back of the net is, in our opinion, inevitable. Therefore, both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals is the best pick.

Pick: BTTS and Over 2.5 goals -190

Here are more UEFA Champions League previews: 

• RB Leipzig vs. Real Madrid
• Ajax vs. Liverpool
• Borussia Dortmund vs. Manchester City
• Benfica vs. Juventus