Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski can go into the UEFA Champions League record books with more goals against Barcelona. - © David Ramos/Getty Images
Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski can go into the UEFA Champions League record books with more goals against Barcelona. - © David Ramos/Getty Images
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5 reasons Bayern Munich will beat Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League - AGAIN!

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Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller and Bayern Munich have a habit of finding another gear against Barcelona. bundesliga.com presents five reasons why that won't be any different in UEFA Champions League Group E on Wednesday...

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1) LewanGOALski

Lewandowski scored twice as Bayern coasted to a 3-0 win at Barcelona's Camp Nou on Matchday 1. The 33-year-old has found the back of the net in every Group E game since, swelling his tally to tournament-leading nine in five outings in the process. If he continues his hot streak at the Allianz Arena, the freshly annointed Striker of the Year will match Cristiano Ronaldo's 2017/18 record of scoring in all six group games. He will also match Ronaldo's 11-goal group record with a brace. And he already has two of those, plus a hat-trick and two single-goal efforts to show for Bayern's 100 per cent section-topping season so far.

Watch: Robert Lewandowski - Striker of the Year

2) Müller, the best wingman in the business

Müller has a habit of furnishing Lewandowski and Bayern's all-star cast. He also has a knack of putting the ball away himself against Barcelona. The one-club man opened the scoring in the reverse fixture, having scored twice in Bayern's 8-2 drubbing of the La Liga outfit in the 2019/20 quarter-finals. Seven years prior, he accounted for three of seven Bayern goals over two legs in the 2012/13 last four. That's seven strikes in six meetings with Barca, and five wins. Der Raumdeuter's total of six goals and 11 assists for the current season suggests that run will only continue.

There's something about facing Barcelona that brings the very best out of Thomas Müller (l.). - imago

3) History backs Bayern

Bayern's overall record against Barca also sits in the German team's favour, with the Munich outfit leading the head-to-head with eight wins to the Catalans' two, as well as two draws. What's more, the six-time Champions League winners have won five of their last six against Barcelona, while Barca have come out on top in just two of their last eight fixtures with Bundesliga opposition on German soil (D4, L2) - and never in Munich (D1, L3).

4) We 8-2 do this Barca fans, but...

Bayern's dominance in this fixture has never been more evident than their aforementioned 8-2 win. It is not very often you put eight goals past any opponents, but when those opponents are a Barcelona team led by Lionel Messi, doing that becomes a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. Bayern became the first team ever to score eight goals in a single European knockout stage fixture, contributing to a competition record of 3.91 goals per game over the campaign, when they gave the Catalans a lesson they will never forget.

Lionel Messi and his Barcelona side were obliterated by Bayern in the 2019/20 Champions League quarter-finals. - MANU FERNANDEZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

5) Davies the tormentor

"Unbelievable," said Joshua Kimmich after scoring the fifth in that jaw-dropping triumph, but he wasn't talking about either his tap-in or the result. He was heralding the incredible work of teammate Alphonso Davies who had just served up the assist of the century. "I was almost ashamed of how happy I was after scoring, because it was obviously 99 percent his goal."

It's a remarkable thing to feel any sort of shame scoring against one of the most successful clubs in history, but one can see Kimmich's point. He need only arrive at the right time and tap home, such was the excellence of Davies. Bayern's Roadrunner Canada international was at his edge-of-your-seat best as he collected the ball on Bayern's left, just inside the Barcelona half, before breezing past Messi and Arturo Vidal.

The best was yet to come, unless your name is Nelson Semedo. The Portuguese right-back was dumfounded by his 19-year-old counterpart, Davies feinting this way and that before blitzing beyond his man, leaving Gerard Pique rooted to the turf and Clement Lenglet clueless to the situation before laying it on a plate for Kimmich to finish the job.

It is a moment that will live long in the history of Champions League folklore and will surely be burned in the memory of Barcelona's defenders. They're also still smarting after being well and truly schooled in their own back-yard earlier this season. Bayern's prospects of making it a perfect six group wins are rosy to say the least.