Bayern Munich: Three things to watch for against Barcelona

Bayern Munich faces Barcelona on the final matchday of the UEFA Champions League group stage. The first meeting between the two clubs on Matchday One ended in an emphatic 3-0 victory for Bayern.

This time around Barcelona finds themselves in a must-win situation as they are looking to finish in second place and qualify for the knockout phase of the competition. If Benfica defeats Dynamo Kyiv and Barcelona fall to Bayern then it will mean the La Liga club is headed to the Europa League.

Bayern has already secured the top spot in the group but they will be looking to remain undefeated in the group stage. Here are three things to watch for ahead of Wednesday’s match.

Top scorer race

Robert Lewandowski has scored nine goals in five matches played which puts him level with Ajax’s Sebastien Haller for the top spot in the competition’s top scorer standings. Having scored two goals against Barcelona in the first leg this season, Lewandowski will be looking for a repeat performance to increase his goal total and potentially take the lead outright in the race to become the competition’s top goal scorer.

Bayern’s star striker has scored in all five of his appearances in the Champions League this season. On Wednesday, he will of course have the opportunity to record a goal in every single one of his Champions League group stage appearances for Bayern in the current term. This would be the second time in the last three seasons he’s scored in every Champions League group stage match he’s played in. During the 2019/20 campaign, he scored ten goals in five group stage appearances.

Can Barcelona generate scoring opportunities?

When these two clubs met in September, Barcelona registered zero shots on target. This obviously resulted in Bayern recording a clean sheet and made their job much easier to record all three points. Low shots on target totals have been a common theme for Barcelona this season. They have recorded five shots on target or more in just seven of their 20 matches in all competitions this season. If they struggle to hit the target again then expect a similar result to their first meeting in September.

Jamal Musiala to start?

Bayern’s rising star has made one appearance in the starting 11 this season in the Champions League and that was against Barcelona. On Wednesday, the 18-year-old could feature once more in the starting lineup as Die Roten goes for all three points. Jamal Musiala did register an assist against Barcelona in September and he has either scored or recorded an assist in all four matches he’s started in for Bayern in all competitions this season.