Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Not the most extensive of previews as there is only 1 fixture being played tonight but what a fixture it is. Bayern Munich take on Barcelona at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League Semi Final and will look to overturn their 3-0 defeat in the 1st Leg at the Nou Camp last Wednesday.
Bayern who overturned a 3-1 deficit to FC Porto in the Quarter Finals will know they really have their work cut out but quite simply they’ve just got to go for it. Being 3-0 down is not the only of their problems as The German champions are without wingers Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, who are both out for the season, while defender Holger Badstuber and left-back David Alaba are also currently sidelined. Also Bayern have lost their last 3 games in all competitions although admittedly 2 of those defeats have come in the Bundesliga which has already been well wrapped up but Pep Guardiola who put to bed any talk of moving to Manchester City yesterday will be looking to stop this run of defeats and take the game to the current Spanish league leaders.
On the other hand Barcelona who rested five players including Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets for their 2-0 home win over Real Sociedad on Saturday have pretty much a full team at their disposal and will be looking to continue this dominate run of form in which they are currently going through. The Catalan club haven’t lost since losing to Malaga on February 21st and more ominously haven’t conceded a goal in their last 7 matches and will once again go into this game as favourites as they look to secure their place in the Champions League Final.
Will Lionel Messi run rings around Jerome Boateng again, will there be more to marvel at from Neymar and will Suarez slice through the Bayern Defence? Bayern know they will have to battle until the end, if they concede the first goal it could be a very long night. From a neutrals point of view you almost wish Neymar hadn’t scored the 3rd goal last week just to make it more of a contest but you never know with Football and Bayern could end up doing the reverse tonight. Thankfully us armchair fans will be able to see it all unfold in front of us, let’s hope the 2nd leg is as good as the 1st
