Key events
Preamble
A night of familiar foes awaits. Bayer Leverkusen broke Bayern’s dominance in Germany and if the formerly eternal champions are ahead in this season’s Bundesliga, they still can’t get the better of Bayer, winless in the last six encounters. Xabi Alonso and Florian Wirtz may well be Bayern faces of the future, but for now, Vincent Kompany’s team must find a way, starting at the Allianz.
As for Benfica and Barcelona, it’s a rivalry that extends back to 1961, pre-Eusebio for Benfica, as they denied Barcelona the chance to become European Cup winners like Real Madrid has been the previous five years. Time and tide has regularly rejoined the Iberian giants, not least earlier this season, one of the maddest games in many seasons, a 5-4 win for Barça.
More of the same, let’s hope so? With the latest from Feyenoord v Inter and PSG v Liverpool in the mix, too. Join me.
