5 things Barcelona need to do against Bayern Munich tonight | UEFA Champions League 2019-20

#3 Ensure Lionel Messi occupies the right areas to be an attacking threat

All eyes will be on Lionel Messi once again

Once again, Barcelona have pinned their hopes on their talisman Lionel Messi to bail them out of a tricky situation against Bayern Munich. The Argentine maestro has been their saving grace several times this season and was unsurprisingly their best player in the second leg against Napoli.

Barring Frenkie de Jong, the rest of his teammates looked lacklustre and failed to support him in the final third. However, Messi took matters into his own hands and scored a stunning solo effort to Barcelona 2-0 up on the night, while he also won the penalty which Luis Suarez converted just before halftime.

In what was a below-par first-half performance, Barcelona managed to put one foot in the quarterfinals, thanks in no small part to their talisman. Bayern Munich, however, will pose a very different challenge.

Lionel Messi has scored 1.3% of the goals scored in Champions League history 🤯 pic.twitter.com/v0ZPf6eey6

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 8, 2020

Barcelona cannot afford to have Messi dropping into midfield to create goalscoring chances and apply the finishing touches all by himself, as Bayern Munich have too much quality in the centre of the park.

The likes of Frenkie de Jong and Sergi Roberto will have to ensure that Messi gets the ball in the right areas, as they are set to come up against Leon Goretzka and former Barcelona star Thiago Alcantara.

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#2 Suarez and Griezmann need to ease the goalscoring burden on Messi

Griezmann and Suarez will need to support Messi up front

While Lionel Messi will undoubtedly take centre stage, a lot will depend on Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann, who have blown hot and cold this season. Since making a big-money move to Barcelona last summer, Griezmann has failed to hit the ground running despite showing flashes of his brilliance and has not been potent enough in front of goal.

Suarez, on the other hand, boasts a decent goal tally despite having his season curtailed due to an injury. However, even the Uruguayan striker has not been consistent enough, due to which Messi has largely taken on the goalscoring responsibility himself.

That feathery touch. @AntoGriezmann pic.twitter.com/0cowiGih6X

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 11, 2020

A Champions League fixture of such high magnitude is the perfect stage for the pair to ease the burden on their talisman, who was once again the star of the show in the previous round against Napoli.

Single-legged ties are an advantage for Barcelona in the sense that Messi can single-handedly put teams to the sword on his day, but they cannot go into a Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich with that kind of mindset and expect to secure a positive result.

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#1 Setien needs to be more proactive with substitutions

Quique Setien could look to use his bench strength for this game

In his short Barcelona stint thus far, Quique Setien has proved that he is not a fan of making too many changes to his starting XI during the game. The former Real Betis manager has been criticized for leaving it too late with his substitutions, as speculation surrounding his future intensifies with each passing day.

A prime example is the Round of 16 second leg clash against Napoli, where Setien waited till the 84th minute to make his first change and used just two of his five substitutions.

Nevertheless, the Barcelona manager has a fully-fit squad at his disposal barring Samuel Umitit and should turn to his bench of things go south against Bayern Munich

The likes of Arturo Vidal, Riqui Puig and Ansu Fati could all be usable options off the bench against Bayern Munich, while the return of Ousmane Dembele is also an unexpected boost for the Catalan club. Barcelona's squad is far from perfect, but they have enough quality to make changes against Bayern Munich if one of their players is off-colour on the night.

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