Barcelona vs Bayern Munich preview

April 30, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Bayern vs BarcaNo team have ever managed to overturn a four-goal deficit in the Champions League knockout stages, but Barcelona still harbour hopes of making it to the final.

Following the memorable 4-0 victory at Alianz Arena, Bayern look to finish the job at Camp Nou and qualify for the second successive Champions League final.

It’s been several years now that Barcelona have been the dominant force in both Spain and Europe, but it appears the time has come for the Catalans to be dethroned.

Some under-par showings against AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain hinted the Spaniards are not exactly ready to go all the way, with all their weaknesses exposed in the first leg against Bayern.

High pressing game has proved to be the best tactics for preventing Barcelona from playing their trademark football and such an approach yielded excellent results for Bayern.

The Catalans find themselves in an extremely difficult situation, and odds of 1.91 (10/11) offered on home win at Stan James are enough to suggest they are not really hot favourites to win the return leg let alone overturn the four-goal deficit.

Barca are 21.00 (20/1) with Coral to make it to the final, but I see almost no value in those odds considering Bayern’s current form.

While Lionel Messi is fit to start, Tito Vilanova faces a real defensive headache, with Jordi Alba suspended and Carles Puyol sidelined through injury.

There is an outside chance of Javier Mascherano returning from a knee problem, but it appears that Marc Bartra will continue in the heart of defence after all.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Valdes – Alves, Pique, Bartra, Adriano – Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta – Pedro, Messi, Sanchez.

Last year’s defeat in the Champions League final was hard to swallow for Bayern Munich, not only because the Chelsea game was played at Alianz Arena, but also due to the fact that the Bavarians had largely outclassed their opponents in the match.

Jupp Heynckes’ side, nevertheless, returned even stronger this season and they are now on the verge of qualifying for the final once again.

As if the 4-0 aggregate victory over Serie A leaders Juventus was not enough to prove why the Bavarians are considered the number one candidates for the trophy, they turned on the style to record a 4-0 victory in the first leg of their semi-final clash with Barcelona.

Bayern obviously have too much quality and experience to allow any surprises in the return leg, and there may be some value in odds of 4.10 (31/10) offered at BetVictor on away win.

While Tony Kroos and Holger Badstuber remain sidelined, Jupp Heynckes has no fresh injury worries, although it remains to be seen whether Mario Mandzukic will again be preferred to Mario Gomez.

Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez, Mario, Gomez, Dante and Luiz Gustavo are all going to miss the final in case they are booked in the return leg.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Neuer – Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Alaba – Martinez, Schweinsteiger – Robben, Muller, Ribery – Gomez.

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