UEFA Champions League 2018-19: Five factors that will decide Liverpool vs Bayern Munich

#2 Thiago Alcantara's midfield superiority

Bayern Munich's midfield maestro: Thiago Alcantara

The midfield is the heart of the team. Liverpool's weakness if any lies in their midfield. Naby Keita is surely the engine of the team but apart from him, Henderson, Wijnaldum, and the others are not imposing as midfielders. No one is the Liverpool team can act as a pivot too. One who distributes accordingly, one who picks out the spaces, one who can break the defensive lines, that one person is absent in Liverpool's defence.

When facing a team with an imposing midfield, like Manchester City, Liverpool has been exposed in the middle of the park. Liverpool's concern in facing Bayern mainly is their own defence but they better be wary of the Bavarian midfield too.

Even though Bayern's biggest name in the midfield will be the Colombian, James Rodriguez, Bayern's prime distributor and pivot, is Thiago Alcantara. A graduate of Barcelona's famous academy La Masia, which produced the greatest ever midfield duo in Iniesta and Xavi, Thiago Alcantara is the heir to Iniesta's regime. He is a great passer, averaging a staggering 83 passes per game with a success of 92%. He also has the highest number of long balls per game with 7, tied with Jerome Boateng who is a defender and bound to have long balls when he clears the danger.

Alcantara's efficiency in the midfield will be a key for Bayern. Jurgen Klopp had better be prepared to neutralize him.