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Former Liverpool star Luis Garcia believes Ousmane Dembele could be the difference-maker for Barcelona in their must-win clash away at Bayern Munich. The Blaugrana take on the Bavarians in the Champions League on Wednesday (December 8) night.
Dembele has made just three appearances in all competitions for Barcelona this season. Recurring injuries have limited the 24-year-old's game-time as has been the case throughout his career at the Nou Camp.
Dembele has, however, proven that he can produce the goods in big games. He scored three goals in six Champions League games for Barcelona last season.
The Catalans are currently in second place in Group E of the Champions League. Xavi Hernandez's side are two points ahead of third-placed Benfica with just one group game to go. Benfica will take on Dynamo Kyiv on Matchday 6, whilst Barcelona will face group leaders Bayern Munich.
Benfica are expected to claim victory over Kyiv, meaning Barcelona will need a victory against Bayern Munich to secure qualification to the Round of 16. Speaking to CBS Sports, Luis Garcia called the match a "tricky" one for Xavi's side.
"Winning is going to be tricky, at the moment Barcelona are struggling so much, the last few games you can see that the players are very focused and they have a lot of intensity."
The former Liverpool forward also predicted a key role for Dembele in this fixture.
"For me the key player is going to be Dembele. Bayern Munich don't have anything to lose so a game like this is very tricky to play against."
The Catalan giants had the chance to seal qualification into the knockouts of the Champions League by claiming victory over Benfica a fortnight ago. Barcelona, however, failed to put away their goal-scoring opportunities and had to settle for a 0-0 draw with the Portuguese side.
Barcelona will head into their clash with Bayern Munich on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday (December 4).
Failure to qualify for Champions League knockouts could be a major setback fo Barcelona on and off the field
Barcelona are currently facing debts in excess of €1 billion. The Catalan giants will be demoted to the Europa League should they fail to secure a victory over Bayern Munich and if Benfica manage to claim victory over Dynamo Kyiv.
Barcelona are in desperate need of money from the Champions League to pay off their existing debts. But confidence isn't too high as the club have endured a shaky start under the management of Xavi Hernandez.
Barcelona will therefore be keen to claim victory over Bayern Munich in order to boost the morale of the fans and the squad. They will be aware, however, that beating the Bavarians on their home turf will be incredibly difficult.
