The Dembele phenomenon cannot be explained

The unruly French winger returned to Barcelona’s first team. After his three assists and a goal (Robert Lewandowski’s pass), he knocked down the previously highly acclaimed Athletic Bilbao. In fact, 10 minutes of brilliant play were enough for him.

 

Ousmane Dembele cannot be defined logically or coherently because his football is not born of common sense but absurdity. If he doesn’t possess the ball, he tangles around the pitch with his head down, feeling left behind. But when he gets it, he does everything in his power to unleash a storm. As Spanish journalists note: Dembele is nonsense.

 

When Barcelona goes through its worst days, there is no more annoying player than him. But then there are also times like last Sunday at Camp Nou. His lack of logic suddenly takes on a positive meaning, and then there is no more of a delightful footballer than him to watch. He becomes a footballing piece of art.

 

Barcelona in La Liga

The match against Athletic (4:0) was the second for Barcelona after the painful defeat against Real Madrid in El Clasico. While one might have assumed that the confident victory over Villarreal (3:0) was also the aftermath of a crisis in which the fantastic rival had been in for months, this time, it seemed that Lewandowski and company would have more problems against Los Leones. Especially as Ernesto Valverde, one of the most charismatic Spanish managers, once led FCB and is considered a very clever strategist. On that day, however, he looked like a coach who had absolutely lost his confidence. Nevertheless, looking at his CV, he appears next to Xavi as a professor.

 

And it is precisely at the level of coach decisions that there was such a big discrepancy between the two teams at Camp Nou. Valverde messed things up by moving his most creative players like Muniain and Sancet out of the first line-up in favour of more predictable and, in theory, responsible players like Oier Zarraga and Ander Herrera. It didn’t work.

 

Xavi, on the other hand, about whose decisions at important moments there have so far been plenty of objections and had him put in the role of a coach who still has a lot to learn, played brilliantly.

 

For the first time this season, he fit Busquets, De Jong, Gavi and Pedri into the midfield line. The latter played exactly as his great prototype Iniesta did years ago – as a false left midfielder.

Xavi gave Lewandowski a rampant Dembele to help out. And it worked brilliantly. The Frenchman and the Pole assisted each other on numerous occasions. RL9 already has 12 goals in the season and 17 in all competitions! So what would you need more?

 

Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League

Unfortunately, Wednesday is coming up and probably the formal end of Xavi’s team in the Champions League. If Inter defeats Viktoria Pilsen (match at 6.45 pm, CET), Barca will be locked in third place in Group C, which means relegation to the Europa League. And the match against Bayern will be all about prestige.

 

Blaugrana has won only two out of 12 matches against Bayern Munich, and there has been a draw once. Last time, the Germans won smoothly 2:0. Last season, they beat Barcelona 3:0 twice, and before that, we had the famous 8:2 rumble! Barca hasn’t beaten FC Bayern in seven years. In fact, the Catalans are not just losing. They are being humiliated. Even a variation on that will make a difference, even if FCB is left with the Europa League only.

 

The Catalan “Sport” writes directly that the motivation of Bayern is to prove to Lewandowski that he was wrong when he left Germany, forcing a transfer on FC Bayern authorities beforehand. And that instead of having a chance to win the “Golden Ball”, he’s gonna have nothing again.

 

So, get ready for the upcoming two remaining UEFA Champions League group stage matches, have fun and bet wisely at your favourite betting site, betfinal.com.

 

Group C standings with two matchdays remaining. Only the top two teams advance

 

Team	PTS	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
1. Bayern Munich	12	4	4	0	0	13	2	+11
2. Inter Milan	7	4	2	1	1	6	5	+1
3. Barcelona	4	4	1	2	1	8	7	+1
4. Viktoria Plzen	0	4	0	4	0	3	16	-13

 

Top Betting Odds and Stats for Barcelona vs Bayern Munich

 

Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
Head to Head
13/09/22	Bayern Munich	2 – 0	Barcelona
08/12/21	Bayern Munich	3 – 0	Barcelona
14/09/21	Barcelona	0 – 3	Bayern Munich
14/08/20	Barcelona	2 – 8	Bayern Munich
12/05/15	Bayern Munich	3 – 2	Barcelona

 

Barcelona
Last 5
23/10/22 Liga	Barcelona	4 – 0	Athletic Bilbao
20/10/22 Liga	Barcelona	3 – 0	Villarreal
16/10/22 Liga	Real Madrid	3 – 1	Barcelona
12/10/22 UCL	Barcelona	3 – 3	Inter Milan
09/10/22 Liga	Barcelona	1 – 0	Celta Vigo

 

Bayern Munich
Last 5
22/10/22 GBI	TSG Hoffenheim	0 – 2	Bayern Munich
19/10/22 POK	Augsburg	2 – 5	Bayern Munich
16/10/22 GBI	Bayern Munich	5 – 0	SC Freiburg
12/10/22 UCL	Viktoria Plzen	2 – 4	Bayern Munich
08/10/22 GBI	Borussia Dortmund	2 – 2	Bayern Munich

 

Betting ODDS:

 

Barcelona to win Draw           Bayern Munich to win

 

          6/5             3/1                     7/4

 

First Goal scorer

 

Robert Lewandowski: 7/2

Anssumane Fati: 7/1

Memphis Depay: 7/1

Sadio Mane: 15/2

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting: 9/1

Raphael Raphinha: 9/1

Serge Gnabry: 9/1

Thomas Muller: 9/1

Ousmane Dembele: 10/1

Mathys Tel: 10/1

Ferran Torres: 11/1

Kingsley Coman: 11/1

Jamal Musiala: 11/1

Arijon Ibrahimovic: 12/1

Paul Wanner: 16/1

Pablo Martin Gavi: 18/1

Leon Goretzka: 20/1

Pedro Gonzalez: 20/1:

Franck Kessie: 20/1

Pablo Torre: 20/1

Marcel Sabitzer: 22/1

No Goalscorer: 22/1

Joshua Kimmich: 25/1

Chadi Riad: 28/1

Frenkie De Jong: 28/1

Marcos Alonso: 28/1

Ryan Gravenberch: 28/1

Ramos Jordi Alba: 33/1

Matthijs de Ligt: 33/1

Marc Casado: 40/1

Noussair Mazraoui: 40/1

Alphonso Davies: 45/1

Sergio Busquets: 45/1

Josip Stanisic: 60/1

Benjamin Pavard: 60/1

Jules Kounde: 60/1

Hector Bellerin: 60/1

Gerard Pique: 60/1

Eric Garcia: 66/1

Alex Balde: 66/1

Dayot Upamecano 66/1

 

Team to score first

 

Barcelona No Goals Bayern Munich

 

    6/7           22/1 21/20

 

Half Time

 

Barcelona   Draw Bayern Munich

 

19/10     8/5     9/4

 

 

     Correct Score

 

Barcelona         Draw    Bayern Munich

 

2-1   10/1   1-1   44/5 2-1   23/2

1-0   17/1   2-2   11/1 1-0   37/2

3-1   35/2   0-0   27/1 3-1   21/1

2-0   37/2   3-3   39/1 2-0   22/1

3-2   20/1   4-4   125/1 3-2   23/1

3-0   29/1 3-0   39/1

4-1   35/1 4-1   40/1

4-2   40/1 4-2   45/1

4-0   55/1 4-3   70/1

4-3   60/1 4-0   90/1

5-1   80/1 5-1   110/1

5-2   90/1 5-2   125/1

5-0   150/1 5-0   200/1

5-3   150/1 5-3   200/1

6-1   200/1 6-1   250/1

6-2   250/1 6-2   250/1

6-0   250/1 6-0   300/1

5-4   300/1 5-4   350/1

 

NOTE: The average odds comparison – source oddschecker.com. The odds are valid on the day of the article’s publication and may be subject to change before the tournament.

Published: October 2022

By Rafa