Former Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski returns to his old home as Barcelona visit Allianz Arena in UEFA Champions League group stage play.
The 34-year-old moved to the Camp Nou this summer after forcing his way out of the German side. While Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic asked fans not to boo Lewandowski, as he "won everything with us," it will be interesting to see how the Bavarian faithful react after the player's contentious departure.
Lewandowski is off to a roaring start in Bundesliga play, and bagged a hat-trick in his Champions League debut with the club against Viktoria Plzen last week.
His Bayern replacement Sadio Mane, meanwhile, helped spur his new side to a Group C victory over Inter Milan last week, but he has been unable to prevent the side from slumping to three straight Bundesliga draws in recent weeks. Mane played limited minutes in the 2-2 draw against Stuttgart over the weekend, and will be motivated to down his predecessor.
How To Watch
Match: Bayern Munich vs Barcelona
Date & Time: September 13 @ 8:00 PM (BST) / 3:00 PM (ET)
Venue: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
TV Channel: BT Sport 4, Univision, beIN Sports
Online Streaming: BT Sport App, fuboTV, beIN Sports Connect & Sony Liv (Try for free)
Watch in Canada: DAZN Canada
Team News
Bayern Munich: Bayern striker Sadio Mane was rested against Stuttgart, coming off the bench for a nine-minute cameo at the end of the disappointing draw. He comes back in at central striker, as Thomas Muller was ineffective in that spot.
Young stars Jamal Musiala and Mathys Tel were bright in the Stuttgart match, both finding the back of the net, and the former retains his position with Serge Gnabry hitting the bench. Leroy Sane returns to the lineup after only seeing 30 minutes against Stuttgart.
The defensive pairing of Matthijs de Ligt and Dayot Upamecano has struggled at times to start the year, and it's Lucas Hernandez who comes in for this match in place of de Ligt. Benjamin Pavard and Marcel Sabitzer are also back in the lineup as well, while young Jamal Musiala is part of the attack in place of Serge Gnabry.
FC Barcelona: Barcelona hammered Cadiz on the road by a 4-0 scoreline over the weekend, with Robert Lewandowski joined on the scoresheet by Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati, and Frenkie de Jong, all finding the back of the net after the halftime break. This Barcelona side is firing on all cylinders at the moment under manager Xavi Hernandez.
Dembele and Lewandowski saw limited minutes in the La Liga match, coming on as substitutes. New defensive signing Marcos Alonso made his debut over the weekend against Cadiz and now makes his first Barcelona start, while fellow new man Hector Bellerin heads to the bench after starting over the weekend.
In the rest of of defense, it's Jules Kounde on the right plus a center-back pairing of Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen, with Gerard Pique, Eric Garcia, and Jordi Alba all available as substitutes.
Prediction: Bayern Munich have an excellent squad at their disposal but have not met expectations in the Bundesliga so far. The likes of Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane can be lethal on their day and will want to make their mark in this fixture.
Barcelona have an abysmal record against Bayern Munich and have conceded an astonishing 20 goals in their last five Champions League games against the Bavarians. With Robert Lewandowski leading the line and Xavi at the helm, however, the Catalans should be able to put up a fight this week.
Score Prediction: Bayern Munich 2 - 2 Barcelona