Champions League: Fantastic player, difficult to mark – Barcelona coach, Xavi hails Bayern star

Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez, has hailed Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller, describing him as a fantastic player.

Xavi said this ahead of Barcelona’s Champions League group stage tie with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.

The Spaniard said that it is difficult to mark Muller because he has a great understanding of the game.

“He’s a fantastic player, he’s been making a difference for years. He has a great understanding of the game,” Xavi said (as quoted by @iMiaSanMia on Twitter).

“He’s a leader. It’s difficult to mark him, but we don’t do man marking but zonal marking. We’ll be attentive to everyone.”

Muller has enjoyed some fantastic meetings against Barcelona in the past.

The Germany international was the primary catalyst in Bayern’s 8-2 thrashing of the Blaugrana back in 2020.

He also scored in both Champions League group-stage matches between the two teams last season.