On Tuesday the UEFA Champions League semifinals continue as Bayern Munich welcome Barcelona to the Allianz Arena for the second leg.
Barca leads 3-0 from the first leg as two late goals from Lionel Messi (who else?!) and a Neymar striker stunned Bayern after Pep Guardiola’s team battled hard for the opening 75 minutes at the Nou Camp.
[ LIVE: Play-by-play of Bayern vs. Barca ]
Despite fresh reports that Guardiola will leave Bayern this summer to manage Manchester City, which Pep strongly denied after Bayern suffered their fourth-straight defeat at the weekend, the Spanish coach must focus on trying to lead the German champions to at least a 3-0 win against his former team to take this tie to extra time.
Bayern launched a huge comeback against FC Porto in the quarterfinals after a 3-1 deficit from the first leg was curtailed by a 6-1 win in the second leg. No disrespect to Porto, but this is Barcelona were talking about. Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar will be on the prowl and know Bayern must go for broke as they chase a big second leg victory.
Barca has won eight-straight games, securing seven consecutive shutouts, and if they win at Bayern on Tuesday they will grab a club record 58th victory of the current season in all competitions. Mind boggling. In team news Bayern are still missing Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben who are out for the season as Pep names the same team who played at the Nou Camp. As for Barcelona, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the mantra as the Catalan giants are also unchanged.
Click on the link above to follow play-by-play of the match, while ProSoccerTalk will have a recap, analysis and reaction from the big one in Bavaria.
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Bayern Munich: Neuer, Alonso, Benatia, Thiago, Lewandowski, Rafinha, Boateng, Bernat, Lahm, Mueller, Schweinsteiger
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Iniesta, Rakitic; Suarez, Messi, Neymar