Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Bayern weren’t at there all conquering best last Tuesday night in the first leg of this Champions League Quarter Final match up and with only a solitary goal advantage Benfica will definitely feel they have every chance of overturning the slender deficit that Pep Guardiola’s side
Pep Guardiola went on record by saying that Benfica have one of the best Defence’s in Europe but you wouldn’t have thought that was the case once Arturo Vidal put Bayern 1-0 after only 2 minutes. But to Benfica’s credit after being caught cold they were resolute enough to make sure this tie is far from over
They prepared for this tie at the weekend with a hard fought2-1 win away at Academica to keep them top of the Portuguese League with a 2 point advantage over their cross city rivals Sporting Lisbon. Not ideal preparations but they came through the tie unscathed and in good health for this Evening’s encounter
Their opponents Bayern managed to extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 7 points after their comfortable win over Stuttgart on Saturday. With only 5 matches to go, it’s going to take one almighty slip up for them to retain their Bundesliga crown
With Manchester City in the Semi Finals the obvious storyline would be Bayern and more importantly Pep Guardiola paired up with his future employers. That said they have to overcome the difficult hurdle in front of them first.
Last time they visited Portugal was last season in the very same stage of the competition, they were surprised 3-1 by Porto that night and many felt they were up against the ropes but a 6-1 win in the return made sure they powered through to the Semi’s
That said there’s no reason why they can’t be a relative upset Tonight and Benfica dishing out another defeat for Bayern on Portuguese soil. Bayern will certainly have to raise their performance compared to the first leg if that isn’t to be the case.
Although it won’t be easy I still think Bayern will have to much attacking force at their disposal and should come through this one unscathed. I’ll go for a Bayern win and then a match up with Manchester City in the Semi Finals.
Papa Johns – If your team scores twice then it’s half price
