Barcelona will reinforce the midfield to combat Bayern's high tempo

Barcelona will reinforce the midfield to combat Bayern's high tempo

Vidal: No juegan con equipos de Bundesliga sino con el mejor del mundo / | Perform

Setién is expected to switch to a 4-4-2, adding Arturo Vidal and Busquets to his XI, whilst Griezmann drops to the bench

FC Barcelona take on Bayern Munich for a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Barça brushed aside Napoli at the Camp Nou whilst Bayern dominated Chelsea to book their passage to Lisbon. The manner of that performance by the German side could see Quique Setien tweak his tactics at the Estadio da Luz. 

With Bayern looking to set a high tempo and using the wings, Setien is expected to pack the midfield and make Barça a much tougher nut to break down. Arturo Vidal and Sergio Busquets would come into the XI, reverting back to 4-4-2, with Ivan Rakitic and Antoine Griezmann dropping to the bench.

The plan would be to have more of the ball and frustrate Bayern, whilst looking to get Messi involved as much as possible further up the pitch.

Pie de foto | AUTOR FOTO

Bayern's fitness levels have proven too much for their rivals in 2020 so it's vitally important that Busquets, Vidal, Sergi Roberto and De Jong take control of the midfield. Messi might even be required to drop a little deeper, meaning Luis Suarez would be holding the line by himself.

Bayern's only significant change is their right-back, Pavard, missing out. His replacement, Kimmich, is hardly a downgrade though. Davies and Coman will offer outlets down the left and Thiago Alcantara, who knows Barça well, will be pulling the strings in midfield.

Experienced duo Thomas Muller and Roberto Lewandowski will lead the forward line.

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