Tonight Bayern Munich will host Barcelona on the Allianz Arena in the first semi-final of the Champions League. The new champions of Germany face the ultimate leader in the Primera Division in a game expected by many experts to be the true final.
Bayern Munich has won the title in Bundesliga rounds before the end and is currently in a great shape. Heynckes' players won the last 8 games, including the victory over Juventus (2-0) in the quarterfinal. In the last match in the Bundesliga the coach gave a rest to many key players but the Bavarian machine again went over Hannover 96 with 6-1 to impress their famous Spanish rival.
Barcelona are on their way to win the title in Spain, where they lead by 13 points over the rivals Real Madrid, 6 rounds before the final. The focus of the team is entirely to this semi-final, which was evident in the tough win against Levante 1-0 in the league.
Mario Mandzukic got yellow cards in the previous two games of the tournament and will miss the clash with Bayern. Toni Kroos and Holger Badstuber are also missing and we are most likely to see Arjen Robben to start on the right wing, supported by Thomas Müller at the center. Lam, Schweinsteiger, Javi Martínez and Dante were resting in the league and will come out fresh in this battle.
Lionel Messi will probably return in this important game, having missed three league games after an injury of PSG. Without him we see a different face of Barcelona and his presence acts as a catalyst to all teammates. Puyol and Mascherano are out because of injuries and Adriano is suspended so we will probably see the youngster Marc Bartra in the defense with Gerard Pique. If at all it is possible to speak of a weak spot in the star selection of Barcelona, perhaps Bayern will look for it exactly in the young defender.
A key element in this game will be the ball possession, since we know that both teams have a quite dominant style. It will be interesting to see what will prevail - the famous tactics tiki-taka with many ball passing by the Spaniards or the pressure and forcing the opponent to make mistakes by Bayern.
We expect an exciting game in which it can be raining goals.