Barcelona shows no fear of Bayern
Lewandowski and Messi in spotlight
LISBON Barcelona remains the best team in the world and will overcome Bayern Munich in Friday’s blockbuster Champions League quarter-final if they play to their potential, says midfielder Arturo Vidal.
Bayern are heavy favourites to beat Barca after sweeping to a domestic double of the Bundesliga and League Cup as well as swatting Chelsea aside 7-1 on aggregate in the round of 16, while the Catalans ended the season empty-handed.
The buildup to the match in Lisbon has seen a number of high-profile figures back Bayern, including German great Lothar Matthaus, who said the Bavarians would have “to do a lot of things badly to lose to this Barca.”
But Chilean midfielder Vidal, who played for Bayern between 2015 and 2018, said his side was still as strong as ever on their day, not least because they have six-time world player of the year Lionel Messi leading the way.
“Bayern will be confident but they must know that tomorrow they’re not playing any old team in the Bundesliga, they’re playing against Barca,” Vidal told a virtual news conference.
“I understand the pessimism but we are the best team in the world. The problem is that we don’t always show it on the pitch and we recently lost the (Spanish) league. But we have Leo, we have the best players and we want to prove ourselves.”
Messi was at his irresistible best in his side’s 3-1 win over Napoli in the round of 16 second leg but the Argentine’s goal total (3) in this year’s competition makes for poor reading next to Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski, who has netted 13 times.
Vidal tipped his hat to his former teammate but dismissed the claim, made by Matthaus, that the Polish forward was better than Messi.
“Lewandowski is extraordinary, very dangerous, an insatiable goal scorer,” he said.
“It’s going to be very difficult to stop him but it’s impossible to compare him with Messi, who is from another planet.
“But you could say that Lewandowski is the best striker in the world alongside Luis Suarez.”