DEPLETED BAYERN FACE ANFIELD CHALLENGE
Liverpool and Bayern Munich are struggling to replicate their storied past against rivals that are financially more powerful. The English club will have a slight upperhand when they meet in the Champions League Round of 16. HT looks at some talking points
REDS SLOW DOWN
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.
DEFENCE IN DISARRAY
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.
AWAY BLUES
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.
BAYERN DEPLETED TOO
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.
STILL POTENT ENOUGH
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.