The heat is on! On Friday evening (21:00 CEST) FC Bayern take on Barcelona in the quarter finals of the Champions League. It's the absolute crunch tie of all the clashes involving the last eight clubs. "Both teams have enormous quality in their squads. It's a special game. We're all fully focused. We're in the final eight and we're competing against the best teams in Europe, so we're bursting with anticipation," said Hansi Flick at the pre-match press conference. In just one knockout game, it's all about whether the men from Munich will progress to the semi-finals and still have a chance to lift the coveted trophy. In our preview we provide you with all the information you need about the clash at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon.
The situation
The atmosphere in Bayern's final training session was excellent.
With a strong performance in the second leg against Chelsea (4-1), FCB made a good restart to their Champions League campaign. This performance should be consolidated, if not improved on, against the Catalans. To be fully prepared, Hansi Flick and his team completed a four-day training camp in Lagos and have been in Lisbon since Thursday. After already winning two trophies this season, the Bavarians are looking forward with confidence to the quarter-finals. "The atmosphere in the team is excellent, in keeping with our winning streak. We have confidence in our game," confirmed Thomas Müller, who added: "But on the other hand, it won't be a walk in the park. Everyone knows what's at stake. That's why we're looking forward so much to it."
Click here for the best images from Bayern’s last day before the Barcelona clash 👇
The opponents
Bayern's outstanding achievements haven't escaped the attention of the Barcelona boss either. "This is an exceptional team. They have a lot of quality and speed, they are a special team in attack. When they have the ball, there's not much left for us to do but defend," coach Quique Sétien paid tribute to the Bavarians. His team had to settle for second place in La Liga and in the cup the Catalans were knocked out in the quarter-finals. So the Champions League remains their last chance to end the season with some silverware. Thanks to their 3-1 win in the second leg of the round of 16 against Napoli a few days ago, Barça remain unbeaten in Europe's premier competition this season, as do FCB.
We put Bayern's opponents under the spotlight. Click here for our opposition profile:
Team News
Flick can draw on virtually all of his squad, with only the injured Benjamin Pavard unavailable, as he was against Chelsea (more on that HERE). Kingsley Coman, who also missed the clash with the English team is playable again. "Kingsley is 100 percent fit and therefore an option for the starting eleven," explained Flick. Newcomers Leroy Sané, Tanguy Nianzou, Alexander Nübel and Adrian Fein are not yet eligible to play.
Barca are delighted with the return of Ousmane Dembélé. The former Dortmund player has not played for almost nine months after a hamstring injury and is in the squad for Friday. At the press conference, his coach hoped that he'd be able to bring the Frenchman on for "perhaps a few minutes".
What the coaches say
Hansi Flick: "They're packed with world-class players and have tremendous quality. We have to counter that. We have a plan and hope that it'll work tomorrow. We all know that in the end, a little bit of luck can be the deciding factor in a clash of top clubs like this. But we want to push that luck. We have to believe in ourselves, act confidently and go into this game with the intensity it demands."
Barcelona coach Quique Setién: "They give us a headache in many ways, they’re the complete package. They can pile on the pressure, but they can also defend. They have strong players going forward. Their pressing is very good. But we're able to hold onto the ball and overcome the pressure from other teams. If we can do that, we can hurt them. I don't see that one team has an advantage. Whoever takes their chances will go through."
So far, the two teams have faced each other ten times and the Bavarians have come off best in most of the matches. We took a look back at the clashes:
The referee
Damir Skomina will take charge of the quarter final and Bayern fans have fond memories of him. The 44-year-old Slovenian has already officiated in two games involving the men from Munich and both ended in a win for the Reds. One of them was a clash with Barcelona. On 1 May 2013, Bayern won the semi-final second leg 3-0 at Camp Nou and progressed into the final against Borussia Dortmund. Let’s hope it’s a good omen.
Check out what Hansi Flick and Thomas Müller had to say ahead of the quarter-final clash:👇
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