A confrontation that carries a lot between Bayern Munich and Barcelona (Getty)
Receive Bayern Munich Team Barcelona Today, Tuesday, in the second round of the group stage of the Champions League after its worst start in the German League in the last 12 years. Bayern has only 12 points collected from 6 matches.
Poland’s Lewandowski returns in the second round of the Champions League group stage to the Allianz Arena, where he spent a large part of his football career and won almost all titles.
Barca is playing Bayern with open appetite, especially with keeping a clean sheet in the first round of the Champions League, when Lewandowski scored three goals (hat-trick), to start early from the top scorer race of the current edition of the tournament to threaten the throne of exiled Cristiano Ronaldo to the European League with Manchester United.
Lewandowski presented his hat-trick, accompanied by Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe with their double, their credentials since the opening round, to confirm that their teams are among the candidates to attend the Istanbul final.
The last time the Bavarians had a similar poor start was in the 2010/11 season, when the Bundesliga title eventually went to Borussia Dortmund. “We lost four points,” Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic admitted, in televised statements. Salihamidzic was referring to the points he lost in the home draw against Borussia Monchengladbach and Stuttgart, while ignoring the away draw against Union Berlin. There is a difference between the two draws: while Bayern was clearly dominant against Mönchengladbach, and was only lacking in scoring goals, they performed very poorly on Saturday against Stuttgart (2-2).
Bayern player Thomas Muller exploded in anger after the team drew for the third match in a row, saying it was the first time he felt “dissatisfied” significantly this season. After the match, he said, “I’m very upset for the first time this season. We’re upset with ourselves. If you go ahead, and you can get back to the top, you have to give everything in the last ten minutes.” “To allow Stuttgart to reach our region again was a lack of intensity, a lack of desire. This is the first time in the season that I feel we have given something to the opponent.”
The Allianz Arena will host the most awaited match in the second round, but Al-Ayoun will not be far from Anfield, where it will play Liverpool A difficult and sensitive match against Ajax Amsterdam after the humiliating defeat at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Bayern and Barca collide in a match that may early decide the top spot in the third group, given that they are the two strongest teams in the group, and they are far superior to Inter Milan, and certainly Viktoria Plzen, the Czech Republic.
The match will be a strong test for Xavi Hernandez’s project in the Blaugrana, especially since the German giant is the first big team that Barca has faced since the beginning of the season until now. The people of southern Germany are still finding their way after the departure of Leva and his abundant goals.
No team will definitely be able to guarantee qualification from the second round, but no one wants to move away from the lead and runners-up too early at the same time, and this situation applies to Liverpool, who fell in the Naples home with a humiliating result 4-1, and is looking forward to the rehabilitation of its fans. There is no alternative in front of Klopp and his players but to defeat Ajax, who won a broad victory in the first round over Rangers, to become one of the candidates to qualify for the playoffs stages and further complicate matters in the first group.
Liverpool did not achieve the perfect start this season, neither in the English Premier League, where it is far from the top four, nor in Europe after the loss to Napoli, who visits Ibrox Park, the stronghold of Glasgow Rangers, where he hopes himself to return to Italy with three more points, to approach one Qualified positions to the final price.
Atlético Madrid is trying to preserve the memory of its victories after its difficult victory over Porto at the Wanda Metropolitto, and is facing an uncertain match against Bayer Leverkusen, who suddenly fell in the first round against Club Brugge.
The Belgium representative will visit Porto at the latter’s Dragao stadium, and if he manages to win, he will have come a good distance towards the qualification ticket. In Lisbon, Tottenham and its host Sporting will fight for the top of Group D after the English team won at home over Marseille and the Portuguese victory over Eintracht in Frankfurt, so that Spurs and Sporting turn their eyes very early towards the final price.