PREVIEW | FC Barcelona v Bayern Munich

FC Barcelona are have hit some fine form, especially in their last two matches at home to Villarreal and Athletic Club, but it might be too late to salvage a Champions League campaign that is hanging on a knife-edge going into Wednesday's 9pm CEST kick-off at Spotfy Camp Nou.

Following the frustrating 1-0 defeat and then a 3-3 draw in the games with Inter Milan, Barça’s fate is no longer in their own hands. In fact, if the Italians beat Viktoria Plzen at the Giuseppe Meazza, then the Catalans' qualification hopes will be over.

Even if the Czechs do pull off a surprise draw or even victory, Barça would not be out of trouble. They would still be heading out of the competition if Inter beat Bayern on the final day.

It would be the first time Barça have missed out on the knockout stages twice in a row since 1997-98 and 1998-99 under Louis van Gaal.

Perhaps it’s a good thing that Barça will be spared the uncertainty of playing this game while keeping an eye on what is happening in Lombardy. The other match kicks off at 6.45pm CEST, so the team will already know before their own game starts whether they are already out or whether there is still a glimmer of hope.

If Viktoria do lose, the only small consolation would be that at least Barça would already be sure of their Europa League place. Otherwise, a win would make sure of that anyway.

Bayern Munich

But of course, all of this depends on one other huge factor. Barça need to beat Bayern Munich! They have a miserable record in recent games against the multiple Bundesliga champions. In fact, they have lost their last five meetings with them in the Champions League, scoring four goals and conceding 19.

They also want to avoid losing both home and away to Bayern in the same edition of the Champions League for the fourth time. They really are Barça's 'bogey team', no doubt about that. The only other team to ever do the ‘double’ against Barça was Dynamo Kyiv in 1997.

The meeting in Munich earlier on in the competition was especially unfortunate. Barça had largely outplayed their opponents before conceding two quick goals just before half-time, and they also deserved to get something back in the second half. It was just one of those days when nothing wanted to go right. Xavi is not wrong - the Champions League has been very 'cruel' to Barça this year.

Team news

Xavi announced his 21-man squad on Tuesday. Sergi Roberto, who dislocated his shoulder against Athletic at the weekend, is absent. Gavi also had to leave the field in that game after hurting his pelvis, but it was just a knock and nothing to worry about. He is in the squad for Wednesday.

Defenders Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen as well as striker Memphis are all still unavailable.

In the Bayern camp, Lucas Hernandez, Leroy Sane (who has scored three times against Barça) and Bouna Sarr are all expected to miss out through injury. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer also has fitness issues and may not play.

What they are saying

FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández knows the situation is critical, but hasn't lost all hope of making it into the Champions League knockout stages

While Pedri insisted that there is "still a tiny bit of hope" in an interview with Marca, Eric Garcia also spoke to the press on the eve of the game:

Did you know?

Seeing Robert Lewandowski face his former club is one of the big attractions of this game. The Polish striker has scored 52 goals in 53 home UCL fixtures, 38 of those wearing a Bayern Munich shirt. He has scored an impressive five goals already in just two games in the competition at Spotify Camp Nou.

Barça have gone an incredible 52 games in the Champions League without conceding a direct free kick. The last one was against Paris Saint Germain in 2017.

Thomas Müller’s eight goals in eight games is an all-time record against FC Barcelona.

Robert Lewandowski is the third highest goalscorer in Champions League history (91), and he actually has a better goal-per-game ratio than both Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bayern starlet Jamal Musiala confessed this week that he was a Barça fan when he was little and had a Leo Messi shirt. He has scored nine goals in the Bundesliga this season, but has yet to find the target in Europe.

A ray of hope from the other game? Inter have played at home to Czech teams three times in UEFA competitions. The game with Sparta Prague in 2016 was the only one they won. Both Dukla and Slavia Prague escaped with draws.