FC Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich | LIVE PREVIEW
Join The Barcelona Podcast for a preview live stream of Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich and the Champions League and then head over to BigUp for the Watchalong! WATCHALONG: https://bigup.com/thebarcelonapod
Transcript
all right we are live a minute early everybody it is time for the preview for Barcelona versus Bayern Munich I don't have any of the listener questions but do have some matchups I want to break down and we have about 25 minutes to figure these things out uh and I think we'll start with just the general Vibes not even the exact matchups and the tactics and stuff and permutation that we're going to get into uh first for a programming note remember this is just the preview here on the live stream on YouTube going from 2:30 to 2:55 and then I get a little five minute break to get a little bit of water and then 3:00 we're heading over to Big up let me put that in the description down below where you can find that again as always so remember watch along is on big up we're we're going to be playing with the tactics board and where we're going to be able to again see in a little bit better detail the uh the individual matchups and uh the score bug and all those different Graphics that we have over on big up so again three o'clock we're moving over to Big up everybody as a community heading over there and uh again joining me on big up for the actual watch along for the game now for this preview though thanks for joining me here on YouTube here we are so as far as the Vibes I think the big thing that I didn't even speak about on the last podcast because it was a match review after Sevilla so I didn't really talk too much about the feelings and vibes I think this is to this point Bayern Munich does feel like that that white whale for Barcelona in Europe that they have to get over the demons against Bayern Munich and not to say that 82 still exists that was four years ago that was a long time ago but still in Europe it feels like Barcelona are in that second tier and they're just not one of the favorites now again Bayern Munich have not won the Champions League in a few years either they've had their own issues sure but it seems like there is a top class that you can win the Champions League then it's a second group and we know that here in the first phase that these results against the other Giants don't really matter that much but it does set a precedent even yesterday Real Madrid hate to talk about it I did put myself through that game and it felt like a good first half bruo dortman were up two- nothing on Real Madrid but then here they come five in the second half and you get that feeling of Real Madrid in Europe Barcelona used to have I promise that's why I'm wearing this jersey the one when they won the Champions League last in 2015 so Barcelona used to have that feeling of inevitability in Europe of course L Messi was a huge part of that but it doesn't feel like that again all that's to say that right now Bayern Munich is as Bas you're saying is the litmus test on how far Barcelona can progress and how far the project of Barcelona has progressed now you know that I say that 90 minutes against any opponent doesn't matter and it doesn't say anything in the fall here but the lit mest for the new hanzi flick system and how much confidence people have in it here in October in November and December is this week it is Bayern Munich it is Real Madrid and not even the final result but how they play and so jumping into the tactics here in the little matchups um again I think the big picture Vibes is that I am as not scared there's a better way to say that but I I'm I have the least amount of fear in in uh Barcelona Bayern Munich than I've had now in four years at least going back to 82 and then prior to that there is a confidence in the way that Barcelona going to play so even the final result even if Barcelona lose this game 3-2 or 2-1 uh I don't think this game is going to be one- nothing I'll get into the reasons why in a second here but for all the reasons I have confidence in Barcelona in this game I think they're going to be on the level of Bayern Munich even if the final score and result doesn't go their way I predicted now of course I didn't predict a red card for Eric Garcia against mon and losing that match but I did predict that this would be a loss here against Bayern Munich at this point um in this in this part of the the season so I did predict a loss here but the way that Barcelona's playing it doesn't feel like it should be a loss the way Bayern Munich is playing on the other side their fans are saying that it shouldn't be a loss either because as much as Barcelona had taken like fish to water in hansy Flick's system it seems like Vincent company who people were questioning whether or not he was going to be able to go from a relegated side in in the Premier League up to Bayern Munich and make that jump well his team have kind of taken to water exactly as his system is gone too if anything the only thing that is standing in the way of Bayern Munich really being their best version of themselves is that some of their players aren't fit their regular uh double pivot or their regular pivot because they do play in a double pivot that's what it looks like but they are much more inclined to play in a single pivot and it usually is pavlovich but he is out today so it's Pia the the Portuguese player jumping in and kimich is going to be the one farthest back in I I would say kind of a pivot and honestly they're going to mirror each other quite a bit in kind of a six and that'll be casido and kimch then kind of an eight and that'll be pedri and uh Paia and then it'll be you know a 10 in ferine Lopez and Müller and I think these two teams will very much look similar just in terms of where they're spatially on the field but the buildup that these two teams have is actually very different so let's dive into some of those big tactics as I said kimich very much like casido kimich is going to drop in a little bit deeper and very much like kadoo it's going to be shuffling it to um Paia or Muller Walt drop in or the difference with Bayern Munich and Barcelona is that for Barcelona those fullbacks stay wide kundai stays wide yes he he steps in sometimes but it's only when linum is the one who's gone completely wide and really looking for an underlap but positionally kundai does stay very wide Bal also stays very very wide and it'll be Rafia coming into that half space and making those runs in behind people I'm seeing or saying why was it not Pablo Tor instead of ferine Lopez I think ferine Lopez is a bit better on the Press he's gotten better at that from last season and I think he's starting because hzi flick sees that he is fit so any questions about his Fitness Danny Alo is not fit that's why he's not starting as I had predicted if Danny Alo was fit I think he would have been easily to start against Bayern Munich he's played well against them in the past when he played for leick so I think for all confidence he would have been the one to start but he wasn't fit so that's why ferine Lopez gets the start and believe it or not I know that you know Jonathan you're saying that you feel like ferine Lopez is more chaotic than PA Tor but defensively he's not offensively it can be that way but I think for Lopez we're almost underrating him now a little bit because he's been out but I I think FY Lopez was the right choice with who they would have had PA toy is also an ability also has ability to come onto the field and uh potentially change some things there now going back to the differences between Barcelona and Bayern Munich Barcelona are going to play with wide fullbacks now as the way I said that Keem is going to be the one to drop in deep pushing into the middle is going to likely Davies or gell and while the Wingers that being gab and um Li will stay wide it's still likely going to be uh Davies and guo to stay inside and they could even potentially on that high press that Bayern Munich plays the difference with their High Press is that Davies and guo are just so active offensively that they can also run out half spaces and they'll if it's not gabber staying wide and dropping in if it's not Al staying wide or dropping in and then same thing mull will just kind of go where he needs to and drop way into the Midfield kind of you know uh be one of the supports and ushering the metronomes as Byron tried to take a lot of possession in the opponent's third um so do expect Davies and GTO to pop up in really dangerous spots that you don't see Bal and kundai pop up in now with all of that all out attack and all out high risk High reward pressing that Bayern Munich do it's very similar to the issues and fears that Barcelona fans and Kool-Aid have had for The High Line that Barcelona plays because if you have fears about Barcelona's backline in that High Line in Martinez and poo Barcia then again Bal and kundai just imagine if you're a Bayern Munich fan and your fullbacks are pushing even higher and they're the ones making run into the half spaces they're the ones who are really getting high on the wings there and leaving space in behind a lot of times too it'll be um it'll be Mao who will be the one to step and he'll be reactive so while leowski does not have the speed to go against Mao I love the idea that ferine Lopez is starting and rafin is back out there on the left wing and with Eric Garcia out I don't know what the other options were uh again with Danny ELO not fit goby not fit enough Frankie young not fit enough to start in this match and Anu not really being the same level at the moment to be trusted against Bayern Munich to start the the ma this kind of uh match of this kind of magnitude so I get why it's ferine Lopez again starting which I think most importantly It's s about ferine more than is about Rafia being pushed wide because that means that Rafia is going to be able to come inside and play off of levandowski and hopefully get into one V1 situations against UPA maano out in space on the break and that is what you want to see is that ifo makes any little bit kind of mistake uh with a a c by Barcelona then Rafia might be the one to find Space out on the races and theno was got to make up that space and Barcelona they've shown with linum M and his ability to find a pass just Sensational of course I don't need to tell you that any bit of Lin in 1 V one space now against the space that Bayern Munich does leave which we saw against Aston Villa Bayern Munich did leave space for Aston Villa and now you know imagine if lamin Maul had been able to have that space against Aston Villa what that attack could have potentially done so as good as Bayern Munich are because if Bayern Munich keep Barcelona pinned back the way that Barcelona want to pin them back Bayern Munich can break through that way their attackers are too good and Kane can be clinical exactly like levandowski very similar in even the things that they're asked to do by these teams in the high press and then Mueller is Mueller you know who he is and while he maybe has lost like half a step I think that anything that he has lost in other games this season he'll to make him up for and how much he loves to play against Barcelona and that little bit of juice that he gets um yeah trying to stick it to Barcelona and maybe his own coach there are rumors that maybe Thomas Müller and hzi flick didn't completely get on really well um but again that's also could be hear St because Thomas Müller is kind of a personality and we don't know anything about that Alis is I'd say if I was going to circle one bar uh Bayern Munich player that I'm gonna say I'm worried about here it is AIS because Bal day might need help at times and if Bal does get caught up field at uh at at certain circumstances that is where Barcelona could be exposed in space and Al also has the ability um to cause some havoc in behind and in a 3v one in a sorry 3v3 situation with Al Alise against Bal I would be worried about how that is going to wind up uh resolving itself out uh as I said before raenia getting into the half space out on the counter is going to be a sense for Barcelona today to answer somebody's question um uaz you said hey Dan who do you think is going to be the MVP for Barcelona today I tweeted out yesterday that it would not Shock me if I if Barcelona win this game I wind up in the five headlines saying that Mark casido was the MVP because in terms of winning the second ball and being the team on the front foot that is going to be essential today Bayern Munich and Barcelona want to do the same thing they want to press high they want to play a high line they want to turn the opponent over in their half of the field and they want to continue to be vertical and take risk only in the opponent's half of the field going forward and if Mar cedo can consistently win those balls against Paia against Mueller uh even against Kimi and pedri can support him in that and also win some 50-50s then I think Bart have a really good shot in this game so while cido might not have the moment in the game I think all the little tiny moments in between if I know if anybody watched the five headlines I did or would with me on big up uh for the last matchie against Sevilla that little circle I called or somebody can remind you what I called it like that that little circle of fun that Barcelona creates there in the middle of the field as they try to overload the Midfield casido kind of sits there at the end of that little circle with pedri and it'll probably be again linium all coming in from the right at times or it'll be the raia coming in from the left with leowski just a bit in front of them if that little circle there with fine Lopez obviously I think will be Paramount to that as well if Caso the little edge of that Circle if he can continue to win those 50-50 balls as he did against Sevilla and as he has done in any of the Big Score lines that barcelon have had this season um then again I'm going to go away from this game saying even though you know maybe he has a goal great but you know it's not about the goals for him it's not about the assists for him is how well Barcelona going to control this match because in Europe against a team like Bayern Munich control is Paramount and as we know I have not felt like Barcelona have really had much control in Europe in since 2018 right since barcela were the better side against Liverpool since the year before that 2017 when barcela were the better side uh against Roma some other questions here what happens when Frankie comes back uh to that point I'm not really too concerned about what happens when Frankie gets back I'm going to say we're going to cross that bridge when we get there because there's still a lot of fixtures and there is no guarantee that everyone's going to be healthy week to week uh and obviously I don't hope that somebody gets hurt uh because obviously you'd rather have the headache of having too many good midfielders and too many players that need to start than than losing some but I think that having Franken young healthy having Gabby healthy pedri healthy Caso health healthy that does allow you to do more things I mean who who's stopping pedri from starting as the 10 who is start who is stopping um who is stopping gobby from starting as a 10 in front of Frankie and pedri or or maybe as gobby and and Frankie or and casido and D young or we don't know what the permutations are but having everybody healthy is a better problem to have than to have players constantly injured and having to rotate them when will gobby come on I think GB is going to come on in probably about the 77th 78th minute I think it'll be very similar to Sevilla but I think he looks healthy enough to be on the field uh I don't think they're worried about a relapse with him so I think he's going to come on the field that's going to be a good thing um so uh uh Kool-Aid to your point no you still have to watch the match separately it just it is a watchalong stream with me again I have a tactics board and I've got a score bug and I've got some other fun over there and there's a link there again I hope everybody who's watching this now can migrate with me that would be a great help uh to get over there on big up remember you don't have to sign up you just jump into the the hit that stream and you can even pull up now and then be there for the watchong uh with me again I'm going to be cutting this stream in about 10 minutes and then you're G to give me five minutes and then I'll be over there at three o'clock for the start of this game so what else have we not talked about here in this preview we haven't really talked about leowski and Kane but I don't really have to talk too much about leowski what he might be required to do today is what he did against sevill andilla were completely overwhelmed in the Midfield in a way that Bayern Munich will not be today that means that as good as levandowski was and I think the reason why Barcelona scored five goals against Sevilla is because leowski was so good technically with his back to goal which isn't always the case and has not always been the case in Europe especially for leowski in the last few seasons so if leowski with his back to goal is technically sound today if he's moving theall B quickly if he's making good choices especially if he's able to unlock something with some kind of one touch to move the ball on to play Vini into that half space like we talked about then that gives Barcelona a huge Advantage if levandowski brings his boots today of course if he scores a goal you know if Barcelona get a PK and he winds up scoring a PK whatever it is levandowski puts the ball in the back of the net that's the bare minimum so I think what we're expecting leowski but again going back to the control there are things that leowski can do without scoring or assist today that could put bars on the front foot in the same way Kane is going to be asked to do the same things it is very interesting to watch these two teams play and look at the ways in which they're so similar and the things that I think both teams are going to try to do today mirror one another so levandowski is better at holding the ball up with his back to goal if levandowski is a striker that is more clinical today then it probably means barcelon have won the match and if Kane on the opposite side does the same thing then then then Bayern Munich are likely on the front foot um so it's very interesting the way these two teams mute each other now where the subs come in is I think where this game could get interesting again we we talked about we don't know almost Fitness did not play against seevilla so I don't think he can be relied on today D young also did not play against Sevilla don't think he can be relied on today I don't think this match is the level of Gerard Martin or Sergi Dominguez I don't really expect to see them I I don't think we should see them today um jard Martin might come on with Barcelona in a lead because yes he still defensively can put in a good shift but he'll have to contend with likely kinyan or larane coming off the bench uh now Leo arane has not been super clinical this season but still in terms of playing against a high line very very dangerous lean gareta also available to come off the bench for Bayern Munich hasn't been you know his best this season Eric deer would come um Eric di rer will come on for Byron if uh have a lead or to to get some more control but if there's an injury to Kim or to U Mao and they're forced to put Dyer on at Center back that is going to be a big issue with their High Line and I've also noticed this season that when Dyer does play they do play a little bit deeper because he just doesn't have the foot speed that U Mao or or Kim have now Kim again is more reactive not the quickest but still quick enough to get the job done for a Bayern Munich team that again likes to sit in to the opponent's half and likes play The High Line and keep the ball uh in uh Conrad Lamer we could also see him come there on uh as one of the substitutes to the fullback so usual