FC Bayern München

Initial reactions and observations If Robert Lewandowski wasn’t regretting his move to FC Barcelona from Bayern...

When else will we ever be able to give Robert Lewandowski an award again? Sadly, this won’t be the time to do it, either. Lewy made some flashy plays but couldn’t pull the attack together on his own, and faded into anonymity for large swathes of the action. He would eventually be substituted in the 80th minute in a waving of the white flag from coach Xavi Hernández.

Adding another goal to his tally for season, Choupo-Moting help lead the Bavarians to a 3-0 victory over a downtrodden FC Barcelona squad.

Choupo-Moting has now scored in three consecutive matches for Bayern. He scored in the 5-0 win over SC Freiburg, twice in the 5-2 win over Augsburg, and once in the recent 2-0 win over TSG Hoffenheim. He’s on a hot streak for Bayern, which has also been one of his best ever stretches of returns since he joined from Paris-Saint-Germain. No Robert Lewandowski, no problem! Even with Nagelsmann getting so used to playing a system without a natural striker, he’s shown that, with Choupo-Moting, that’s something he can tactically switch with how well Choupo can play the role and make an impact.

The recent rumors linking Bayern Munich to Atlético Madrid star João Félix were rubbished by Sky’s Marc Behrenbeck. Behrenbeck is reporting that Félix’s name was, indeed, tossed around last summer, but that the club will not be considering the attacker moving forward.

With its Champions League hopes on a life support — and facing a Bayern Munich squad who would like nothing more than to send the Catalans packing to the Europa League — FC Barcelona is truly in trouble.

“The first half in the first leg was difficult, but then the second was very good. We were maybe a bit surprised at the start. We analyzed them well and want to play two strong halves tomorrow,” said De Ligt (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “Barcelona is a big club, like Bayern. They played a very good first half in the first leg. They have a good philosophy, lots of possession. For every player it’s a game where you need maximum concentration. We want to be first in the group, so we have to win.”

“I expect to face a very intense and tactically astute side,” Xavi said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “We consider Bayern to be one of the best sides in the world. We were very good in Munich, but we didn’t convert our chances. Tomorrow, we have to show that was an aberration.”

The head coach can see a markedly improved Barca side, which he expects to be much more dangerous than what Bayern Munich faced last month.

Is the Barca squad viewing its chances more like Red or like Andy from The Shawshank Redemption? According to recent quotes from Pedri, it appears like Andy is the way — at least for now.