Football Previews
Barcelona travel to Germany this Wednesday to face Bayern München at the Allianz Arena in a charity club friendly game.
This will be Barcelona’s first club friendly game before the new season starts and a fitting one after they suffered a 7:0 aggregate loss at the hands of Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League earlier this year.
Bayern Munich have had a stunning pre-season so far winning the Telekom Cup over the weekend with wins over Hamburg (4:0) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (5:1) in the final (30 minutes each-way, friendly tournament).
Prior to winning the Telekom Cup, Munich won 3:0 against Brescia, 6:0 against Sonnenhof Großaspach and 4:0 against Hansa Rostock.
Although they have all been friendly games, it could be said Pep Guardiola has his team playing how he wants and with 22 goals scored and 1 conceded in 5 games, he is doing something right as new Munich Manager.
Barcelona will be without Tito Villanueva after he stepped down as Barcelona manager due to ill health (throat cancer).
Gerardo Martino has been appointed as new Barcelona manager but will not be at the game.
Current form:
Bayern Munich – W W W W W W W
Barcelona – W W W W W L D
Bayern have won their last 7 – Barcelona have won 5 of their last 7
Head-to-head
These two sides have met 7 times in recent years and Barcelona come out on top (Bayern Munich won 2, Barcelona won 4, 1 Draw).
Bayern Munich have the most recent form with a 7:0 aggregate win in the UEFA Champions League semi-final earlier this year.
4:0 is quite a common score between these two sides, Barcelona defeated Munich 4:0 in 2006 and 2009 while Munich defeated Barcelona 4:0 earlier this year.
Although this is a friendly game, starved football punters will definitely get involved in this match and bookmakers make Bayern Munich strong favourites.
Current betting odds: Bayern Munich (8/15) Draw (16/5) Barcelona (4/1)
Gamingtips Predictions – Bayern Munich 5:2 Barcelona
Pep Guardiola looked very serious in the Telekom Cup even when his team were winning by 2+ goals and although this is a charity friendly game, we shouldn’t expect a friendly scoreline in favour of Barcelona.
Bayern Munich have looked outsanding in pre-season and playing against a Barcelona side who haven’t played a competitive game in over 7 weeks, we may see a dominant Munich in their home stadium.
Even though it is just a friendly game, there is no doubt Pep Guardiola will want to get a win over his previous club.
There is no specific team news as of yet but Thiago Alcantara will most likely play for Bayern Munich against his old side, Franck Ribery, Phillipp Lahm, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller all scored last time out and should feature at some point in this game.
We have yet to see Neymar in a Barcelona shirt and fans will be hoping to catch a glimpse of Neymar and Messi playing alongside each other for the first time in public.
From a betting perspective, punters may like the 4/1 odds about Barcelona but given the way Bayern Munich have been playing and Barcelona’s lack of action, they may be slightly under-priced.
The best opportunity from a betting perspective is betting on goals (over 4.5, over 5.5, over 6.5) because Bayern Munich scored 9 effortlessly in 120 minutes and looked hungry for more.
Barcelona have friendly games to come against Vålerenga and Santos (Neymar’s old club) and will see this game against Munich as a good way to get back into action against one of Europe’s best teams.
This game gets underway at 17:30 GMT+1 and can be watched live on Sky Sports. International listings will vary.
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