Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the European teams being most talked about at the moment. They are the sensations of the season so far, and are the two favourites to win the Champions League.
Both sides combine lethal firepower with superb work rate when it comes to winning the ball back. They are two designer teams and are dominating their respective groups, and they are now facing the final game of the group stage with the job amply done.
It is sufficient to glance at the scoring records of the two teams in the current Champions League to realise what a powerful punch they pack. At Bayern, goals have a first name and a surname, and they are Robert and Lewandowski. Along with Luis Suárez, Bayern’s Polish attacker is probably the best centre forward in the world, the equivalent role at Barcelona being more shared out between the members of the side’s attacking trident – although Thomas Müller is level with Lewandowski when it comes to European efforts this term and is just one behind in the Bundesliga standings.
With a potential meeting between the two sides to come further down the line, for now Barça and Bayern are competing to be the highest goalscorers in the Champions League. Real Madrid lead the way following their 8-0 demolition of Malmö, which took them on to 19 goals in the competition. Before that, the Bavarian outfit had topped the pile, with 17 in their five games as against the Catalan team’s 14. At the other end, the trio have all conceded just three times in the group stage, which is a tribute to their good defensive work.
With everything already sewn up, there is some lack of incentive where tonight’s matches are concerned, but Bayern and Barcelona do have the chance to hit out and end the group stage as top goalscorers.
