It’s always good to look at what the media in the opposition’s country think of our club’s performances, and without further ado, here is a look at Bild’s player ratings for Liverpool vs Bayern.

Note that the player ratings are inverse- 5 actually means a a poor and 1 means very good. We were originally surprised to see Javi Martinez and Mat Hummels both get a 1, thinking that there was no way they had performed that badly, only to realise the grading system later! We thought Martinez was one of the stand outs for Bayern in what we saw, and were happy to see it proven right.

According to these ratings, the worst Liverpool player on the evening was left back Andy Robertson, followed by Wijnaldum and Salah. There was no true stand out player, with several getting average 3 ratings- eight of the eleven were given that grade!

For Bayern, Hummels and Martinez were the best players, with James Rodriguez being the worst. Bild also thought that Niko Kovac outsmarted his opposite number Klopp

Is it advantage Bayern Munich? Some would think so after the Bavarian giants came away with a 0-0 draw from Anfield following the first leg of their Round of 16 Champions League clash. Research suggests that the away team in the first leg (in this case Bayern) progresses nearly 75% of the time when the first leg ends in a 0-0 scoreline.

However some would argue that Liverpool still hold an upper hand as they didn’t allow Niko Kovac’s men to score. This means an early goal at the Allianz for the Reds would leave Bayern chasing the game as a 1-1 draw would see Jurgen Klopp’s men progress on the away goals rule.

Klopp himself declared in his post match interview that he “was not over the moon” but “was completely OK” with the result.

Indeed things started brightly, but there was precious little of football played in the second half. The biggest talking points would perhaps be the Bayern fans’ banner protesting the exorbitant prices of away CL tickets, and Joshua Kimmich getting himself carded for a needless challenge on Sadio Mane, which sees the former out of the return leg in Munich.

Javi Martinez was fantastic for Bayern, with his form reminiscent of previous European performances in the early part of this decade. Given the fragile nature of both defences, few would’ve expected a 0-0, but that’s the way it panned out! Liverpool would perhaps not be too disappointed- they fielded a makeshift pairing of Fabinho and Matip, as was expected, but managed to keep Lewandowski quiet, and will have VVD back for the return leg. Continue reading →

Following Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth over the weekend, the club now have a ten day break until their next assignment- a tasty Champions League clash against German giants Bayern Munich. The midweek fixture against the Bavarians is followed by another tough one against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Two months ago, it was Liverpool’s 3-1 win over their great North West rivals that spelt the end for Jose Mourinho. Six odd weeks later, the Red Devils appear to be in the form of their lives under new manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, with players like Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford again looking like world beaters. Mourinho had once said it would need “a miracle” for United to finish top four- Solskjaer has already achieved the seemingly impossible. Continue reading →

The number of international players called up from a club is sometimes a good indicator of how well it’s been doing domestically. By that metric, Liverpool are definitely been right up there, and the Reds had a whopping 15 players called up during the recent international break. It’s also a testament to the purchasing power of the Premier League and the calibre of players it’s able to attract. Continue reading →