FC Barcelona striker, Memphis Depay has declared the UEFA Champions League group stage game against Bayern Munich a must-win final for his team.
On Wednesday, December 8, FC Barcelona will be in Germany to play against Bayern at the Allianz Arena. The UEFA Champions League Group E match is Barcelona’s last chance to play in the next round of the tournament.
Currently, FC Barcelona are sitting on the 2nd spot with 7 points in 5 games after recording 2 wins, a draw, and two defeats. The Spanish giants are 8 points below first placed Bayern Munich and two points above third-placed Benfica.
As it stands, the surest way for Barcelona to remain in the tournament is to beat Bayern Munich with any scoreline. That would earn them 10 points in 6 games.
But if that does not happen, they would have to hope that fourth-placed Dynamo Kyiv would beat third-placed Benfica.
This means that Barcelona have two ways of remaining in the tournament. Either through beating Bayern or Dynamo Kyiv beating Benfica.
A victory over Bayern would be a tall call for Barcelona which have been struggling to beat the German club in recent years.
The last two times the two European giants met, it didn’t end well for the Spanish side. Recall that Bayern beat Barca 8-2 in the knockout stage of the Champions League in the 2019-2020 season. When they met in the first leg of the tournament this season, Bayern defeated Barca 3-0 in front of Barca home fans.
In an interview ahead of the must-win UEFA Champions League group stage game against Bayern Munich, Memphis Depay who has been the club’s most important player this season urged his team to approach the game with intensity.
He described the game as the club’s last chance to fight for a place in the next round of the tournament.
“It’s our last chance to advance to the next round and it’s like a final,” Memphis Depay told TV3.
“We have to prepare very well mentally for the game and we will have to give everything to get the result,
“I know we will have to put in the maximum intensity, we will have 90 minutes to do it. Benfica’s result is also involved in this tie, but we have to focus on ourselves and go out there to win the game.
“The way we approach the game is our coach’s decision, but obviously we like high pressure and having the ball. We like to control games based on having the ball.”
⚽️ "I'm working hard to score"
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 7, 2021
🗣 @memphis pic.twitter.com/dlQi2B51wK
🗣 "We have to prepare"
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 6, 2021
🦁 @Memphis pic.twitter.com/qeFf1aw25u
Memphis Depay has scored a total of 8 goals and provided 2 assists in all competitions since he joined the club from Lyon on July 1, 2021.
However, all the 8 goals that the Dutch striker scored for Barca this season were recorded in the La Liga. He is yet to score any goal in Barca’s UEFA Champions League campaign this season despite making five appearances.
As Memphis Depay is expecting FC Barcelona to step up their game against Bayern on Wednesday, the club’s fans would hope that the Dutch striker would double his effort in Germany.
