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 ahead of their first leg encounter:
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
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.
AWAY BLUES
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.