It is going to be interesting for Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool were paired against Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16.
Klopp is the one manager that broke the Bayern juggernaut in the Bundesliga, and returning to Germany is always going to special for our manager.
His Borussia Dortmund side were a pain for the Bavarians, and Liverpool should be another tough task for the Bundesliga champions.
This Bayern isn’t the dominating force it once was, and it has already lost three games in the league this season. Compare that to Liverpool, and we are yet to lose in the league and sit pretty at the top.
Of course, looking at our Champions League performances, we have been soundly beaten on all three away games in our group, but we have been fantastic at home.
Bayern didn’t have a tough group like we did, and were a little lucky to top their group after that 3-3 draw against Ajax.
Liverpool played PSG, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade, and our home form took us into the next round of the competition.
Our first leg is at Anfield, and even though we are without Virgil van Dijk, the Reds should start as favourites not only for the tie but also for the two-legged affair.
Ageing Bayern against a rising Liverpool
The Reds don’t have many players who are above 30 when it comes to our starting XI. James Milner and Adam Lallana are the only players above 30, and both find it hard to play regularly in the side.
Looking at the spine of this Bayern side, we have Robert Lewandowski, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery, Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben all 30 or above,
Ribery and Robben don’t start regularly for the Bavarians but the others are first-teamers and should be there for the taking.
Liverpool’s attackers have the guile, pace and ingenuity to overcome the Bayern defence. Klopp has also found a second system to use, the 4-2-3-1, should we need to control the game.
Mohamed Salah has found his scoring boots in recent games while Sadio Mane keeps finding himself in great positions and just needs to score more often.
Our defence is great too, but Van Dijk will be a big miss in the first leg. Alisson, Andy Robertson and Joe Gomez (should be fit for the Bayern tie) have been excellent and will be tested well by Lewandowski.
The greatest aspect of our side is the midfield. Klopp has six quality options to chop and change about, and Fabinho could be the X-Factor for us over the two legs.
Additionally, the Bundesliga giants aren’t playing fantastic football and Niko Kovac has looked bereft of ideas, especially in the early parts of the season.
Liverpool started the campaign slowly but the win over Everton seems to have turned a corner for us. We were amazing against Napoli, and the same can be said about the performance against Manchester United.
There is a bit of history also in our favour as we have beaten the Bavarians twice in European competition while they have just one win to their name.
Our last meeting was in the UEFA Super Cup final in 2001 where we won 3-2 thanks to goals from John Arne Riise, Emile Heskey and Michael Owen.
It is safe to say that this Liverpool side has better attackers when compared to those under Gerard Houllier, and this team is getting better with each game under their belt this season.
Anfield will play a huge factor in our hopes of knocking out Bayern, and we have all the tools to get a large enough lead in the first leg to take our foot off the gas in the second.
Liverpool have blown away PSG, Napoli and Manchester United at Anfield this season, and with Klopp being a bit of a kryptonite against Bayern, another hammering could be on the cards for the Bundesliga giants.
