Barcelona vs Bayern: Bundesliga side dominate Messi-led combined XI

Remarkably, Barcelona and Bayern Munich's quarter-final tie will be the last between two European heavyweights in this season's Champions League. They equally share 10 European trophies between them. If one of these two sides fail to clinch it this season then we are guaranteed a first-time winner.

Ahead of Friday night's moutwatering tie between Barcelona and Bayern Munich, we have assessed what a combined XI between the two sides might look like, combining ratings from league and European competition in 2019/20. One word: formidable.

Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski are unsurprisingly the standout performers. Lewandowski is the best WhoScored rated player in the Champions League (9.31) but when factoring in league ratings the 31-year-old just drops below Messi.

They have remarkably played a direct hand in 75 goals between them across both competitions. Lewandowski had a legitmate case to win this year's Ballon d'Or before the event was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.  

Messi is joined in the XI by Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique but it makes for grim reading for the Spanish side after that. They have underwhelmed for most of the 2019/20 campaign, illustrated further by the fact Bayern have eight players in our combined XI.

Thiago, who came through the Barcelona youth academy, features in midfield alongside assist-king Thomas Muller. Thiago has a dribble success rate of 84% across the two competitions, while Muller broke the record for most assists in a single Bundesliga campaign (21). It means there is no room for Sergio Busuqets, with Philippe Coutinho, on loan from Barcelona, also missing out.

Another big talking point is in goal. There have been calls for Barcelona's Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to replace Manuel Neuer as Germany's No.1 in recent years but the latter has at least rediscovered top form in 2019/20 after some rough years.

Neuer pips Ter Stegen by 0.02 rating points to take the No.1 position in our combined XI. Neuer went from having the worst save success rate in the Bundesliga in 2018/19 (57.6%) to the second best in 2019/20 (71.7%). The 34-year-old has also kept 19 clean sheets in 41 league and European appearances compared to Ter Stegen's tally of 16 in 43 outings.