FC Barcelona Versus Bayern Munich Champions League Preview, Team News And Starting Lineup

They’ve arrived in Lisbon, where on Friday FC Barcelona play the first of three “finals” which could prove to be the most difficult for them in the Champions League this year.

At the Estadio de Luz, Bayern Munich await in the quarters in a tie that is also being talked up as Robert Lewandowksi versus Lionel Messi.

Top brass and club legends at the Bavarian giants have made a point of trash talking ever since these two outfits were put on a collision course through wins over Napoli and Chelsea last weekend. But for Barça coach Quique Setien and midfielder Arturo Vidal, there are simply no comparisons despite the Poland international being in the form of his life.

“Lewandowski is a great footballer, but he is not up to [the level of] Leo. That's clear,” said Setien at his prematch press conference. “Now he is in a great moment. He has 13 goals in the Champions League and is very well assisted by his teammates, but we have already seen Leo the other day against Napoli. It's good that we can enjoy these players.”

“Lewandowski is extraordinary, very dangerous, a tireless scorer. It will be very difficult to stop him,” admitted Vidal. “But comparing him with Leo is impossible, because Leo is from another planet, although Lewandowski is the best striker [in the world] alongside Luis Suarez.”

Devaluing the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, it appears as if the Bundesliga rulers want to evoke a Michael Jordan-esque, Last Dance type of virtuoso performance from Messi akin to that put on in 2015.

Scoring two at the Camp Nou to guarantee a 3-0 first leg win in the semis that year, he put Luis Enrique’s men on the road to the treble in Berlin with one of its all-time great goals when dribbling past Jerome Boateng and plonking the World Cup winner on the turf in a daze.

A lot has happened since then, of course, with Barça on their third different manager following the exits of Enrique and Ernesto Valverde, while there have also been monumental failures against Roma and Liverpool in the past two terms on the continent.

In a unique one-and-out format, however, where anything can happen, all that must be put to one side as merely the task in hand is focused on.

“We have considered many things, but we will not see [the formation] until tomorrow. If we take into account the talent and offensive speed that we have, it will always be better to have the ball and hurt them as much as possible,” Setien answered, when asked on whether he is set to roll out a highly-mooted 4-4-2.

SPORT were bang on the money, though, and right with their assertion that Jordi Alba, Clement Lenglet, Gerard Pique and Nelson Semedo will protect Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s goal from left to right.

Then, in a rare four-man midfield, the returning Sergio Busquets acts as pivot providing support to a trio of Sergi Roberto, Frenkie de Jong and a slightly more advanced Arturo Vidal who is capable of both getting forward and mucking in defensively.

Up top, Messi and Suarez wait for the killer ball without the need to drop back as deep as has been seen previously, which means there is no place in the first XI for Antoine Griezmann.

From the bench, the Catalans are buoyed by the impact both he and Ousmane Dembele, possibly earning his first minutes since November, can make if required.