Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has offered his thoughts on the 2021-22 Champions League group stage after seeing his team drawn against Bayern Munich, Benfica, and Dynamo Kiev.
The Dutchman spoke to Barca TV about his team’s upcoming European competition and admits it will be a tough taking on German giants Bayern Munich who won 8-2 the last time the two sides faced each other in the Champions League in 2019.
“I think it’s a tough group. Talking about Bayern Munich, a really strong team, a team that won two years ago, and Barca lost that day, a big result,” he said. “They have really good quality players, they have a new coach, Nagelsmann, it’s really nice to compete with them.”
Bayern went on to win the tournament in 2019-20, lifting the European Cup for the sixth time in the club’s history. The Bavarian giants made it to the quarter-finals last season but went out to Paris Saint-Germain on away goals.
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Koeman Back At Benfica
The Champions League draw also sees Koeman head back to Benfica. The Dutchman managed the Portuguese side for a year between 2015-16. Koeman actually guided Benfica to the quarter-finals of the Champions League before going out to Barcelona.
The 58-year-old has been keeping an eye on Benfica’s progress this season and is looking forward to taking on one of his former clubs.
“The second one is Benfica. In history, it’s like one of the biggest clubs in the world. I was lucky to have one season as a coach over there and it’s really a great club,” he explained. “I saw their last match against PSV in Holland, a draw which is a good result it’s a strong team.”
The final team to be drawn in Group E along with Barcelona, Bayern, and Benfica were Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kiv. Barca beat Mircea Lucescu’s side home and away in the group stages last season and Koeman says his team will know what to expect.
He added, “Dynamo Kiev, we know because we had to play last season against them. They have developing young players, we have to analyse those teams and see what we can expect.”
Bayern Stars React to UCL Draw
Bayern Munich players and coaching staff have also been happy to share their thoughts on the draw, as reported by the club’s official website. Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic spoke about the prospect of facing Barcelona without Lionel Messi.
“I’m really looking forward to this group, it’s a very attractive one. Ideally, we want to go into the round of 16 by finishing top,” he said. “Barcelona are a different team without Messi, but they still have very good players in their ranks. It’ll definitely be a great clash.”
Attacker Thomas Muller, who scored twice and was named man of the match in the 8-2 win, is also looking forward to the two games with the Catalan giants.
“We’ve been given three traditional Champions League participants. I’m looking forward to facing those teams, who can all play very good football. Barcelona are still very much in our memory from the 2020 quarter-final,” he said. “That was a great experience in Lisbon for FC Bayern. But we also have to be on our guard against Benfica and Kyiv. When I think of Kyiv, what immediately comes to mind is that great Mario Basler goal from the 1999 semi-final that took us into the final.”
The top two teams from each group progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
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