Preview: Barcelona Women vs Bayern Munich Women - prediction, team news, lineups

A place in the Women's Champions League final will be on the line when Barcelona Women welcome Bayern Munich Women to the iconic Camp Nou for Sunday's semi-final second leg.

The tie is finely poised after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena last Saturday. 

Match preview

Barcelona are driven by the chance to reclaim their European crown after falling to a narrow defeat to Arsenal in last season's UWCL final - a result that denied the Blaugrana a third consecutive UWCL trophy.

The Blaugrana are back competing in the semi-finals after following a first-place finish in the inaugural league phase with a dominant 12-2 victory over Real Madrid in the quarter-final.

Pere Romeu's side experienced a much tougher contest in last Saturday's first leg in Munich, which saw Ewa Pajor's eight-minute opener cancelled out by Franziska Kett's second-half effort.

With home advantage for the second leg, the three-time European champions are still the obvious favourites to prevail and reach a sixth consecutive UWCL final.

Barcelona have won all four of their European games this season, including a 7-1 success in October's one-sided league phase clash against Bayern.

In fact, the Catalan giants have won each of their previous three European home games against the German giants.

© Imago / Ulrich Wagner

In contrast to their opponents, Bayern are dreaming of lifting the top prize in European football for the first time in their history.

They have already equalled their best performance in Europe from the 2020-21 season, when they fell to a 5-3 aggregate defeat to Chelsea in the semi-finals.

Bayern managed to avoid defeat in the first leg of their latest semi-final experience, although they would have been disappointed to end the game with 10 players after goalscorer Kett was sent off in the 80th minute for a hair pull on Salma Paralluelo.

Unlike Barcelona, Bayern were back in domestic action in midweek, with the Frauen-Bundesliga title already wrapped up, it was unsurprising to see Jose Barcala name a much-changed side for a 2-0 win over Werder Bremen.

That result represented Bayern's ninth consecutive away victory in all competitions, although they will be aware that they will face a much tougher test at the Camp Nou on Sunday.

The Bavarians can take confidence from the fact that they have avoided defeat in each of their last 28 competitive matches since losing to Barcelona in October. 

Barcelona Women Women's Champions League form:

Barcelona Women form (all competitions):

Bayern Munich Women Women's Champions League form:

Bayern Munich Women form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago

Barcelona remain without long-term absentee Laia Aleixandri, who his working on her rehabilitation from a serious knee injury.

In positive news, three-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati is set to make her return from a six-month injury absence, although she will only be fit for a place on the bench.

As long as there are no fresh injury concerns, Romeu is likely to stick with the same lineup that started the first leg in Munich.

As for the visitors, they remain without Lena Oberdorf, Sarah Zadrazil, Alara and Jovana Damnjanovic. 

Carolin Simon, who will leave Bayern at the end of the season, could feature at left-back in the absence of the suspended Kett. 

Klara Buhl, who made her first start since returning from injury last weekend, could have a key role to play if Bayern are to progress, having registered eight assists in seven UWCL appearances this season - more than any other player in the competition. 

Barcelona Women possible starting lineup:

Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Leon, Brugts; Lopez, Guijarro, Putellas; Graham, Pina, Pajor 

Bayern Munich Women possible starting lineup:

Mahmutovic; Gwinn, Viggosdottir, Gilles, Kett; Stanway, Amani; Dallmann, Tanikawa, Buhl; Harder

We say: Barcelona Women 3-1 Bayern Munich Women (Barcelona to win 4-2 on aggregate)

We expect Sunday's contest to be much closer than October's meeting in Barcelona, but we still believe the win will go the way of the hosts, who can draw upon the experience of recent successes at this stage of the competition.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.