Barcelona face Bayern Munich on Wednesday night at the Spotify Camp Nou in their final home game of the Champions League group stage, and they will already know whether or not the match will have any meaning before kickoff even takes place.
Barça enter Matchday 5 in third place in Group C with 4 points, three fewer than the Italians who are in second. The math is pretty simple: if Inter win, regardless of the score, they are through to the Round of 16 and Barça will be eliminated from the Champions League. Inter earned the all-important head-to-head advantage over Barça after the 3-3 draw two weeks ago at Camp Nou, so three points against Plzen would seal qualification even if Barça were to win their last two matches and Inter lost on Matchday 6, since the two teams would then be tied on 10 points in that scenario and the tie-break would go to the Italians.
But if a miracle happens and Inter don’t win at home against one of the worst teams in recent Champions League history, Barça will play against Bayern knowing that they will enter Matchday 6 still with a chance to reach the knockout stage if they find a way to beat the Bavarians. If Plzen win, Barça would still be alive ahead of their final match if they don’t lose to Bayern. If there is a draw at San Siro, Barça must beat Bayern, which would then force Inter to win at the Allianz Arena next week to secure qualification assuming the Blaugrana were also able to beat Plzen away from home.