Waaaaaaaaay too quiet in here considering the enticing lineup of matches today:
Bayern @ Liverpool
Barca @ Lyon
Bayern comes into the match surprisingly 2nd in the Bundesliga behind banged up Dortmund. This year's Bayern is also slowly transitioning away from their stars, as Robben and Ribery are not in the top 5-10 of appearances. Lewa is still banging in the goals and the squad is still worthy of praise, but this isn't the fearsome juggernaut Bayern was 3-5 years ago.
Most here are familiar with the Reds. Their form has dropped significantly since their immensely entertaining loss to MANC. Since that match, they've lost to Wolves (who are actually quite good), drawn with Leicester, and drawn with resurgent West Ham. Gomes and Ox are still hurt, but I think Reds supporters thought more of the squad's depth. Nevertheless, progressing in UCL will put this club back on track to compete for both of the important trophies. If Bayern trots out an old lineup, I'd like to see them attacked by the Reds' relentless pressure.
In the other matchup, most Barca fans I know are deservedly cautious about this impressive Lyon side. That being said, Barca feels like it's getting ready to rev up for the home stretch of the season. Roles are beginning to be refined and the emergence of Alena and the reemergence of Coutinho give the club an air of depth they haven't had in awhile. While the Sunday match with lowly Valladolid was not impressive at all, they still got the points while Real lost to Girona and results do matter at this time of year.
While today's side will likely include Vidal and Rakitic in the middle along with Busi, look for Alena to come on in the second half. He is much more creative in the attacking third than Vidal and has filled in admirably for the injured Arthur who was holding that role down for some time. It will be fun to see if those 2 get to play together in an aggressive possession-based MF, with Arthur filling the Xavi role and Alena getting his turn to reprise Iniesta. Suarez got some rest over the weekend but still came on with enough time to flub several golden chances. But, I've learned not to worry about Luisito in big matches. On the other side, I'm excited to see if Dembele can continue to build on his excellent season. He is growing increasingly comfortable on the ball and can create all sorts of problems for the opponent. Coutinho should see 20-30 minutes to help build on his improved form over the past week or 2. He finally looked like the terror he is again, getting more involved with the combination play. The other thing to watch is who gets the start at RB--Roberto or Semedo. I'm an unabashed Semedo guy because he is more comfortable with the position and has blazing speed, but it has taken him some time to get integrated. Over the past month, that process has taken a big step forward though.
Lyon sit 3rd in Ligue 1 with an impressive GD of +12. They are very even in attack, with 5 players with 5+ goals in Ligue 1 (Depay, Aouar, Traore, Dembele, and Fekir). This is a young team that is fun to watch and has a lot of talent. While the conventional wisdom may be to try and keep Barca off the board to avoid away goals, I don't think that's how Lyon will play it and they will go out and try and score some goals.