Eliminating Bayern without being a favorite is Barça’s great challenge

Barça faces for the first time a quarterfinal of the Champions League without being favorites. Since they fell in the second round of the 2006-07 season against Liverpool, they have thirteen appearances in the penultimate round of the European competition and it has always been the rival to beat. His current hurried sports reality, however, clearly places him in the run-up to this express edition of Lisbon below a Bayern that generates more expectations, with an undeniable streak of 27 consecutive games without losing: 26 wins and a draw in all competitions since December 2019. He has won the Bundesliga and the German Cup and wants to repeat the triplet of the 2012-13 season, with Jupp Heynckes at front.

It is such an unusual situation for the Barça team that they do not even have the pressure of last Saturday against Naples at the Camp Nou. Falling in the eighth would have been considered an absolute failure in a course without degrees. Now the campaign can end in blank anyway, but a dignified goodbye may already be enough not to make a huge final drama. The result matters, of course, but the image also matters, even for Quique Setién’s immediate future as a coach.

There is no faith in Barça or in the Barça environment, perhaps because it is a team that historically does not cheat: what you see is what it is. The ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ is usually positive for others. When he has won the European Cup (1992, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015) he has done it by conquering the League before and intimidating his rivals for months. When it has reached these rounds ‘crooked’, as now, it has no longer straightened.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that a change is taking place in that sense, because the Barça that suffered the humiliations of Rome (quarterfinals) and Liverpool (semifinals) in the last two Champions Leagues did roll in the League and showed its strength in Europe even in those qualifying rounds at the Camp Nou: 4-1 and 3-0, respectively. However, at the Olímpico (3-0) and at Anfield (4-0) he collapsed by surprise and suffered two comebacks that continue to hurt. Perhaps you have changed your dynamics and know how to transform and compete after a course full of ups and downs.

And then there is the factor Messi. Against Naples he showed that he has enthusiasm and ambition in this Champions League. The ’10’ can change course any game with his genius and his goals, although he will also need the inspiration of his teammates. In Liverpool, for example, he left Luis Suárez, Alba and Coutinho alone with three sensational passes, but none of them knew how to score that goal that Barça needed to play in the last final.

Quique Setien He only left the injured Umtiti and the ‘rebel’ Arthur in Barcelona, who has already signed for Juventus for next season, pushed by the club, a decision that made him abandon himself in sport in the final stretch. He traveled to Dembélé, who has completed several training sessions, with magic plays shown by the club in its media, but it has not played for eight and a half months after having chained two more injuries in its extensive curriculum of muscular mishaps. He still does not have a medical discharge, although the coach said: “We are excited that he can play for at least a few minutes.” Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal return after their sanction. Braithwaite was displaced, but is not registered as he was booked after the deadline.

A pulse with a prize

It is a pulse that has a prize. Barça won the 2008-09 and 2014-15 Champions Leagues after eliminating Bayern in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, while the Bavarian team won 2012-13 after knocking down Barça in the semifinals.

Bayern have the Low due to injury to French right back Pavard, a problem that will force Flick to delay the demarcation of Kimmich to the band and place Thiago in the double pivot with Goretzka. Coman recovered from some muscular discomfort and has all the numbers to accompany Gnabry, Müller and Lewandowski, Europe’s fittest striker, with 53 goals this season between Bundesliga (34), Champions League (13) and Cup (6).

In the last hours the young left-handed winger Alphonso Davies is in cotton wool due to some discomfort, but it is expected that he can play. Coutinho, on loan from Barça, can play because there is no fear clause, although he is not expected to do so from the start before returning to the Barça team.

The German team feels superior and club legends such as Matthäus and Rummenigge have expressed this in recent days, ignoring Messi and Ter Stegen in respective comparisons with Lewandowski and Neuer. The two goalkeepers, by the way, will star in a very morbid duel because they are publicly confronted in their pulse for the ownership of the German team.