Barcelona vs Bayern Munich preview & prediction

Match preview

Barcelona will host Bayern Munich at Camp Nou on Wednesday night, hoping to remain in contention for a place in the Champions League knockout round.

The Catalans are third in Group C, three points behind second-placed Inter Milan, who would qualify if they beat Viktoria Plzen earlier in the evening, while Bayern leads the section with 12 points, having won all four of their section matches to advance to the round of 16 with two games to spare.

Inter play Viktoria Plzen earlier in the evening, and a win for the Italians would see them qualify, effectively ending Barcelona’s chances of reaching the round of 16. Xavi’s team would then be confirmed to finish third in the group, relegating to the Europa League for the second season in a row.

The La Liga giants require a favor from Plzen and then a win over Bayern, but they have only one point from their last three games in the competition, losing back-to-back matches to Bayern and Inter before drawing 3-3 with the Italian giants at Camp Nou on October 12.

Bayern’s position at the top of the section is not surprising given their quality, and the Bundesliga champions have had an impressive group-stage performance thus far, recording four wins from four matches, scoring 13 times and conceding just twice.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side defeated Inter 2-0 and Barcelona 2-0 in their first two group games before winning 5-0 at home earlier this month and 4-2 away last time out.

The Munich giants, who have won the European Cup six times, were knocked out in the quarter-finals of last season’s competition by Villarreal, and they also failed to advance past the final eight in 2020-21, losing to Paris Saint-Germain on away goals.

Bayern have not lost to Barcelona since the semi-finals of the 2014-15 Champions League, when they were defeated 3-0 at Camp Nou in the first leg; a win would confirm them as group winners on Wednesday, though first place would be secured ahead of this match if Inter fail to defeat Plzen.

Barcelona vs Bayern Munich H2H

Bayern Munich	2 – 0	Barcelona
Bayern Munich	3 – 0	Barcelona
Barcelona	0 – 3	Bayern Munich
Barcelona	2 – 8	Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich	3 – 2	Barcelona

Barcelona vs Bayern Munich form guide

Barcelona’s last 5 games – WWWWD

Barcelona	4 – 0	Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona	3 – 0	Villarreal
Real Madrid	3 – 1	Barcelona
Barcelona	3 – 3	Inter Milan
Barcelona	1 – 0	Celta Vigo

Bayern’s last 5 games – WWWDW

TSG Hoffenheim	0 – 2	Bayern Munich
Augsburg	2 – 5	Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich	5 – 0	SC Freiburg
Viktoria Plzen	2 – 4	Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund	2 – 2	Bayern Munich

Key stats

Bayern Munich have an excellent record against Barcelona and have won 11 out of the 16 matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Barcelona’s paltry three victories.
Barcelona have lost their last five matches against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League – their worst record against a single opponent in the competition.
Bayern Munich have won three of their five away games against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League – more than any other team in the history of the competition.
Barcelona have lost their last two home games against German opponents in European competitions and have never suffered three such defeats in a row in their history.
Bayern Munich have suffered defeat on only one occasion in their last five away games against Spanish opponents but did lose their previous such game against Villarreal last year.
If Barcelona suffer defeat in this fixture, they could be eliminated from the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in consecutive campaigns for only the second time in their history.

Barcelona vs Bayern Munich prediction

We expect Inter to defeat Plzen in the earlier match, confirming Barcelona’s third-place finish in the group. If that is the case, Bayern would need to win here to be declared section winners, but we believe that an entertaining match will end with the points shared. Hence we go with the following pickings in this fixture: