FC Barcelona is one of the most successful football clubs in the world. Against FC Bayern, however, the Catalans have a truly black series. The day before Bayern Munich’s Champions League group game, head coach Xavi never tired of emphasizing how much he believes his team will win away this time.
Hard to believe, but actually true: FC Barcelona have never won a competitive game at FC Bayern. The Blaugrana played six times in Munich, in addition to two draws there were four defeats.
In the premier class, there have always been lessons against the German record champions in recent years. Both group games in the previous season went 3-0 to FC Bayern. In the quarter-finals of the final tournament in Lisbon, the Catalans went down historically badly with 2: 8.
Lewandowski meets FC Bayern for the first time
Still, Barca head coach and club icon Xavi firmly believes he can make history with his team on Tuesday night (from 21:00 CET).
“We’re talking about Bayern, one of the best teams in the world. It’s true, we’ve never won in Munich, it’s a difficult place for us. But we feel like we’re winning this game and the momentum in this duel can finally turn in our favor,” said the former world and European champion.
Already last year, when Barca had no chance against Munich in both duels in the first year after the Lionel Messi era, Xavi sat on the bench as head coach.
He sees his team in a much better position this season: “Many things have changed, especially the mentality. We go out without fear and want to have the ball a lot ourselves. We’ve gotten stronger mentally. But we also have to remain humble and ourselves remember that we had a bad time,” said Xavi at the press conference before the final training session in Munich’s Allianz Arena.
Xavi raved about Barca’s star striker Robert Lewandowski, who will meet his former club for the first time: “Robert is calm. He is a leader on the pitch. It will obviously be a special game for him. He will be very motivated . […] He will show his character and personality on the pitch against Bayern.”