FC Bayern München

Knowing its fate, Barca still had to face a hungry Bayern Munich side, who has had a knack for embarrassing the Catalans in recent years.

Moretto reports that a decision is to come after the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup. However, reporters closer to Bayern have rubbished the rumors, with Sport Bild’s Christian Falk giving a definitive “Not True”:

At the team dinner, the Cameroonian performed a Notorious B.I.G. song in front of the team and it is evident that everyone else enjoyed it by tapping to the beat, especially Joshua Kimmich, Kingsley Coman, and Sven Ulreich. The vid is from Sadio Mané’s Instagram (as captured by Twitter account @CampusVid2)

Here are our talking points from the game:

Lewandowski is still prolific as ever — banging in goals left, right, and center for the Catalans. Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann is aware of this and hinted that a striker isn’t of utmost importance at the moment despite the aforementioned rough patch that saw Bayern slip down the Bundesliga table (via @iMiaSanMia).

The vultures are circling around Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala. Once the youngster referred to Real Madrid as a “mythical club” you just knew that somehow the Spanish media was going to start to run with it:

We’ll start in Dortmund, where BVB put up a masterclass against Manchester City, stifling Erling Haaland’s new team to a 0-0 draw despite having only 27% of possession — and outshooting the Citizens too, both in shots (11-8) and shots on target (4-3). By the end of the game, City were just waiting for the final whistle.

Xavi will want a win to galvanize his squad for the rest of the season, after deflating losses to both Inter and Real Madrid in previous weeks. Bayern, meanwhile, still have top spot in the group to secure, and Julian Nagelsmann will doubtless want to come away from the Camp Nou with a win. Pride is at stake here. When you play against a big team in Europe, you give it your all. That’s just how it is.

His absence will be most keenly felt by the back-line, his regular partners in distribution and early build-up. At his pre-game press conference, center-back Matthijs de Ligt commented on Neuer’s recent injury omission and deputy Sven Ulreich’s turn at the plate.

And when dropped points reared their unwelcome head again against Borussia Dortmund, Julian Nagelsmann and the team acted fast to ensure it was an aberration rather than a return to form. A window into the process: