The Champions League duel between Barcelona and Bayern Munich, played on Wednesday at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, bore huge significance for both teams due to the fact that they both had grounds to make up after suffering relatively surprising defeats at the hands of AS Monaco and Aston Villa, respectively. Another loss would’ve arguably raised concerns about round-of-16 qualification for either, and as it happened, it’s Bayern who will likely have started worrying.
Raphinha opened the scoring for Barcelona less than a minute into the match, and having one goal ruled out for offside, Harry Kane equalized for Bayern in the 18th minute. Robert Lewandowski dealt a blow to his former club by reinstating Barcelona’s lead in the 36th minute, and Raphinha proved he was on fire as he struck twice more to land a hat-trick, in the 45th and 56th.
The teams
Both coaches arranged their respective teams in a 4-2-3-1 shape.
For Barcelona, Inaki Pena was in goal, picked ahead of Wojciech Szczesny in the absence of Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Pau Cubarsi paired up with Inigo Martinez in the heart of defence, with Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde covering the defensive flanks. Pedri and Marc Casado were tasked with controlling the middle of the park while Raphinha, Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal supported Lewandowski upfront.
For Bayern, Manuel Neuer stood between the posts. Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano formed the centre-back duo, with Alphonso Davies on the left and Raphael Guerreiro on the right. Joshua Kimmich paired up with Joao Palhinha in midfield. Kane led the line in attack, with Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller and Michael Olise in support.
The game and slight controversy
Barcelona obviously got off to a dream start, getting ahead after only 58 seconds. As Lewandowski dropped deep to receive the ball, dragging Kim out of position, Pedri picked it up and employed Lopez, whose positional interchange with Raphinha resembled a castling move in…
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Author : Veselin Trajkovic
Publish date : 2024-10-24 20:44:33
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