The versatile midfielder says that Pep Guardiola can lead the injury-ravaged Bavarians past a Blaugrana team that he believes are even better than Real Madrid
Javi Martinez says that Bayern Munich can beat Barcelona even without a host of first-team regulars because in Pep Guardiola they have “the best coach in the world”.
The Bavarians travel to Catalunya on Wednesday to take on the Blaugrana, who are on a six-game winning streak in all competitions, netting 14 goals in their last two outings alone.
Bayern, by contrast, are feeling the absences of a number of key players through injury, with the Bavarians having been beaten on penalties in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal last week before slumping to a 2-0 Bundesliga loss at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Javi Martinez freely admits that Barcelona are an even stronger side than the Real Madrid outfit that defeated Bayern 5-0 on aggregate on their way to winning last season’s Champions League.
Even though the German champions will arrive at Camp Nou without the likes of Arjen Robben, the fit-again Spain international believes that Guardiola can still mastermind a victory over his former club.
“Our run of injuries has been incredible,” the versatile midfielder told Marca. “We’ve had them all year, but a lot, too many, have come all at once at a decisive juncture in which we’ve got everything at stake.
“But these sorts of situations are when it’s important to have a squad like Bayern’s.
“It showed [in the quarter-final against] Porto when, despite all the absentees, we put out a line-up capable of challenging and beating anybody.
“This Barca side press more than Madrid, are more focused, are stronger at the back and have that extra killer instinct in Luis Suarez, who is a fantastic player and gives them a lot.
“But we want to keep making history, which we’ve been doing for the last two years. We’re all hungry for more.
“It’s true we’re missing some players and have problems, but we’re Bayern and we’ve got the best coach in the world.”