Lewandowski out to torment mentor Klopp Struggling Barca eye improvement versus Lyon in away clash
Polish forward will carry Bayern Munich’s hopes against Liverpool coached by his former manager
BERLIN: Robert Lewandowski hopes to torment his mentor Jurgen Klopp when Bayern Munich face Liverpool in Tuesday’s Champions League clash.
Lewandowski, Bayern’s topscorer with 25 goals in 30 games this season, is relishing playing at Anfield when he leads the Germans’ attack in the last 16, first leg. “I know that their fans don’t want us or me to score a goal or win, but for me personally, in such an atmosphere I’m even more energised at kick-off,” he told UEFA.COM. “That’s what makes it special for me and I’m excited to play in such a stadium. And if you win, it’s even better.”
Lewandowski arrived at Borussia Dortmund as a 21-yearold to work under current Liverpool boss Klopp when neither he, nor the German head coach, were yet household names.
“He made a huge impact on my career. I have to be thankful to him because of what we did together at Dortmund,” said Lewandowski. “We grew together and it’s led me to where I am today. He released that striker’s instinct in me and that allowed me to make the next step up.”
IN TOP FORM
Lewandowski scored eight goals in 33 games in his first Bundesliga season, when Klopp made his name with Dortmund’s first Bundesliga title for nine years.
More silverware followed in 2011/12 when Dortmund again won the title and added the German Cup with a 5-2 thumping of Bayern Munich in the final when Lewandowski scored a hat-trick. The Polish forward cemented his status as one of the world’s best strikers by scoring all four goals when Real Madrid were routed 4-1 on a golden night in the 2012/13 Champions League.
Dortmund went on to lose the final to Bayern at Wembley and Lewandowski signed for the Bavarian giants on a free contract a year later. He has now scored 176 goals in 225 games for Bayern.
Lewandowski sees the Anfield clash as a chance for Bayern to prove themselves after exiting the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid in the last two seasons. “When you’re playing The way Liverpool came back to surge past Manchester City, the Reds were not only dreaming of a first Premier League title but also a double. But they no longer resemble the assured bunch they were in December as two draws and a defeat in six matches since their
5-1 win against Arsenal have allowed City to catch up. Liverpool lost to City 1-2 and were held by Leicester and West Ham. Though a 3-0 win against Bournemouth on Saturday has given them some respite, they will have to be at their best against Bayern.
wins out of five at Anfield for Liverpool
in Champions League Round of
16 matches
defeats in eight European matches for Liverpool. All five were away
defeats
Forwards — Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane — have contributed 44 of their 59 goals in PL and are expected to trouble Bayern too. But it is the defence that will worry manager Juergen Klopp especially in the absence of key defenders Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Van Dijk is suspended while Gomez underwent surgery last week for a lower leg fracture.
With Dejan Lovren still to not ready, Klopp will have to depend on a makeshift centre-back pairing of Joel Matip and
Fabinho to keep Bayern at bay. defeat for Bayern in last eight away games in European competitions
(W6 D2) wins and five losses
for Bayern in two-legged ties against clubs from
England
Klopp will have to do some quick fix to ensure Liverpool don’t concede too much ground on Tuesday. Anfield has truly been a fortress for the Reds as they advanced to Round of 16 on the back of three home wins. Liverpool have lost all three of their group games on the road against Napoli, PSG and Red Star Belgrade and that would put extra pressure on them when they visit Munich for the second leg.
against Liverpool, a team that has so many good players, anything can happen. But for us, if we are ready 100 percent, anything can happen for us as well. In the round of 16, one mistake can make the difference.”
‘NOTHING PERSONAL’
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp spent seven years battling against Bayern in the Bundesliga but he says there is nothing personal at play in Tuesday’s Champions League clash here with the German champions. In his time as coach of Borussia Dortmund and before that Mainz 05, Klopp faced Bayern 29 times and earned just nine victories.
“There was never any negative Bayern are in Liverpool without winger Franck Ribery and central defender Jerome Boateng while they have lost forward Thomas Mueller and Corentin Tolisso to suspension and injury. Ribery is at home after becoming a father while Boateng is nursing a stomach virus. Bayern are currently trailing leaders Dortmund by two points. They did top their group ahead of Ajax but found
the going tough at home.
The German giants cannot be written off so easily even though they are nowadays unable to keep up with the financial might of the nouveau riche of European football.
Robert Lewandowski and the in-form Kingsley Coman are always dangerous while the creativity of James Rodriguez and Leon Goretzka could pose plenty of problems for Liverpool’s undermanned defence.
Ajax’s youngsters exposed Bayern’s weakness against pace in their group stage clashes, while Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg have also given Bayern’s opponents extra encouragement in recent weeks in the Bundesliga. thing with Bayern, but when we play each other and they buy our players, how can I be happy?” Klopp said on Monday.
Defender Mats Hummels and forward Robert Lewandowski were in Klopp’s Dortmund side in
LIVERPOOL
BAYERN
Played the 2013 final but are now with Bayern.
“I worked together with these boys. Two fantastic players. I have to be really thankful. Without them probably my career would not be the same,” he said. BARCELONA: Despite an iron grip on domestic trophies, Barcelona have been haunted by their recent failures in the Champions League and there are concerning signs for the Catalans as they prepare for Tuesday’s last-16 first leg away to Olympique Lyonnais.
Ernesto Valverde’s side fly to France after an uninspiring 1-0 win at home to struggling Real Valladolid on Saturday which consolidated their lead at the top of La Liga but left plenty of doubts about their capabilities of winning Europe’s top prize.
The drab victory over Valladolid, in which Lionel Messi scored a penalty and missed one, followed a goalless stalemate at Athletic Bilbao, a 2-2 draw with Valencia and a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg.
Coach Ernesto Valverde has played down the significance of his side’s recent slack displays.
“Sometimes you cannot be brilliant in every game, but I think the team is ready to play at its very best,” he said.
Defender Gerard Pique, however, was more scathing of Barca’s performance and warned of the potential consequences of their lacklustre displays. “We were not the Barca we wanted to be, the result was good, the sensations were not,” he said. “We must improve on Tuesday or we will suffer a lot. If we don’t move the ball quickly, dominate the play and possession or create chances, we are a weaker team.”
HUMILIATING DEFEAT
Barca have fallen at the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League each year since last winning it in 2015, suffering a particularly humiliating elimination to AS Roma last season after taking a 4-1 lead in the first leg of the tie.
They have looked on enviously
as Real Madrid have won the last three editions of the big eared trophy, swelling their total number of European Cups to 13, which makes Barca’s five look measly by comparison.
Despite winning three of the last four La Liga titles and collecting the Copa del Rey four years in a row, there is a widespread feeling that Barca should have fared better on the continent, especially while Messi has been at his peak.
The Argentine seems to think so too - in his first speech as captain back in August, he pledged to do “everything possible to bring that beautiful trophy back to the Nou Camp”.
For that ambition to be realised, Barca must improve on a dismal away record which has seen them win only one of their last six visits in the Champions League knockout rounds, scoring three goals while conceding 13. Barca will be boosted by the return of France’s World Cup winning defender Samuel Umtiti after nearly three months out with a knee problem, while defender Thomas Vermaelen and midfielder Arthur Melo are injured.