With only 4 matches left in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, we already know four teams that have earned their spot in the quarterfinals, however, we still wait to see which remaining four will join them on the road for the European glory. In this article, we will check out what are the chances of Liverpool to defeat Bayern Munich in Germany and earn their spot in the next round of the Champions League.
Liverpool and Bayern Munich met each other at Anfield on February 2nd in the first leg of 1/8 finals. The match was an entertaining one, however, we did not see a winner, nor did we see a goal, which was not the result Liverpool had hoped to end up with. Now they have a tough task ahead of them; defeat Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena on March 13th.
Looking back at the first leg match between these two sides, Liverpool were the better team, however, they failed to produce many threatening opportunities to score a goal against Bayern. Despite having 16 goal attempts, Liverpool only managed to shot the ball towards Bayern goal twice, while Bayern managed to produce only 1 shot on goal out of 9 goal attempts.
While the match did not end particularly bad for Liverpool, it was still a disappointing result for the Reds, who failed to threaten the goal of Neuer, which might be concerning heading to Germany for the 2nd leg. Despite that, Liverpool are confident they are capable of defeating Bayern and advance into the next round. In an interview with the Reds defender Andrew Robertson, he stated:
“We were at home so of course, we were disappointed.”
“We came up against a very experienced team, a team that has been there and done it for six or seven years now. They knew how to frustrate us and how to frustrate the fans and they did it well, but we had chances and if we had taken them on another day the result would be different. A clean sheet at home in the Champions League is so crucial because we know when we go over there and if we can grab one it means they have to score two.”
Robertson is right. While Liverpool failed to impress and get themselves a lead at home, the draw is still a good result. With the aggregate score of 0:0, Bayern Munich are under a lot of pressure to avoid conceding a goal, which would mean they will need to score 2 just to avoid being knocked out.
With that in mind, Liverpool have got a good chance to knock out the German side in the next leg, but there is of course also Premier League matches they need to attend, where they need to perform up to par, just to have a chance to catch up to Manchester City.
On the other side, Bayern Munich just recently hit some internal struggles. While the club on its own works well, recent news of Muller, Boateng and Hummels not being selected in the Germany national team sparked up a lot disagreement among fans and players, which understandably did not do any good the morale of the trio. After the announcement, Bayern Munich had a few words to say to Joachim Low;
“Basically, we do not comment on the sporting decisions of the national coach, however, we find the timing and circumstances of the announcement of this decision to the players and the public to be questionable.”
In addition to the demoralizing news, Bayern Munich will also head into the next leg without Robben, who will miss the fixture due to a calf problem.
Despite all that, Bayern Munich and their team stated that they are ready for Klopp and his men for the 2nd leg of Champions League. At the end of the day, they are still Bayern Munich, who despite having a mediocre season this year have got the experience of competing on a high level, which is why I expect them to put up a good fight. When it comes to the question; Can Liverpool advance into the next stage of CL, I feel confident saying they can. Liverpool has a strong team, which they have proven numerous times before.
The title race in EPL might seem like it will shift their focus away from Champions league, however, Liverpool does not face off against any tough opponents in the next 2 rounds. On March 10th, 3 days prior to their clash against Bayern, Liverpool will host Burnley, while 4 days after they will visit Fulham. Neither of the teams should cause problems to Liverpool, which is why I expect them to travel to Allianz Arena focused to defeat the Germans.
Taking all into consideration, Liverpool seems to be in a much better position than their opponents, who will have to prevent Liverpool from scoring a goal, which would give them a hard time to catch up with 2 goals of their own.
