AT THE QUARTER-final stage, Bayern Munich overturned a first leg 3-1 defeat to Porto in emphatic fashion. The recently-crowned Bundesliga champions blitzed their Portuguese opponents with five first half goals before Xabi Alonso added a sixth late on.
That was an impressive feat, but it would be dwarfed by a comeback at the Allianz Arena tonight. Trailing 3-0 from last week, Pep Guardiola must again plan without the services of Arjen Robben, Franck Fibery, David Alaba and and Holger Badstuber.
2. What of his future at Bayern?
Rumours about Pep’s future surfaced again this week but he remains insistent that he is going nowhere. ”I’ve said 200 million times before, I have another year on my contract,” he said yesterday.
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“I will be here next year. I’ve won everything as manager, I’ve won so many things at Barcelona. So I’ve said, a thousand million times, here in Munich, I won everything, nearly everything, but it’s done by the players so I am happy.
I want to be a good manager for my players, if the people are happy with me than I’m happy.”
However, winning domestic titles is not enough at a club as highly-ambitious as Bayern Munich and exit from European in the semi-finals for the second consecutive year will only add to speculation that the Spaniard could be on his way to Manchester City in the summer.
3. Will Barcelona keep their unbeaten run going?
There is real momentum behind Luis Enrique’s side right now. Beaten just twice all season, it is over three months since they last suffered defeat. Of the 18 matches since then, they have won all but one, a 2-2 draw with Sevilla, and conceded just 8 goals while scoring 54. If they can earn victory tonight, it will be a club record 48th win of the season in all competitions.
4. Can Juventus reach their first in 12 years
Seen at the underdogs going into the last four, Juventus proved a few people wrong with a 2-1 win over reigning champions Real Madrid in Turin thanks to goals by Alvaro Morata and the excellent Carlos Tevez. With just one goal separating the teams going into Wednesday night’s game, Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri says his side need to play an “almost perfect” game at the Bernabeu.
The club hasn’t played a game of this importance for 12 years, but I believe we now have the experience and confidence to play well at this level,” Allegri said.
“On Wednesday we will need to deliver a performance that is almost perfect. I won’t say perfect because that is impossible in football, but for sure we’ll need our best performance to go through.”
5. Will Gareth Bale prove his critics wrong
PA Wire / Press Association Images
PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
The world’s most expensive player Gareth Bale came under fire after a poor showing in the first leg. The Welsh attacker has endured a difficult second season in Spain and rumours continue to link him with a return to the Premier League. Under pressure from the Spanish media and some Real Madrid fans, a big performance would go some way to appeasing the doubters.
The Old Lady, meanwhile, are boosted by the return of Paul Pogba, who made a goalscoring comeback in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Cagliari.
Can Bale prove doubters wrong? Questions to be answered in the Champions League semis
1. Can Guardiola mastermind another comeback?
AT THE QUARTER-final stage, Bayern Munich overturned a first leg 3-1 defeat to Porto in emphatic fashion. The recently-crowned Bundesliga champions blitzed their Portuguese opponents with five first half goals before Xabi Alonso added a sixth late on.
That was an impressive feat, but it would be dwarfed by a comeback at the Allianz Arena tonight. Trailing 3-0 from last week, Pep Guardiola must again plan without the services of Arjen Robben, Franck Fibery, David Alaba and and Holger Badstuber.
2. What of his future at Bayern?
Rumours about Pep’s future surfaced again this week but he remains insistent that he is going nowhere. ”I’ve said 200 million times before, I have another year on my contract,” he said yesterday.
“I will be here next year. I’ve won everything as manager, I’ve won so many things at Barcelona. So I’ve said, a thousand million times, here in Munich, I won everything, nearly everything, but it’s done by the players so I am happy.
However, winning domestic titles is not enough at a club as highly-ambitious as Bayern Munich and exit from European in the semi-finals for the second consecutive year will only add to speculation that the Spaniard could be on his way to Manchester City in the summer.
3. Will Barcelona keep their unbeaten run going?
There is real momentum behind Luis Enrique’s side right now. Beaten just twice all season, it is over three months since they last suffered defeat. Of the 18 matches since then, they have won all but one, a 2-2 draw with Sevilla, and conceded just 8 goals while scoring 54. If they can earn victory tonight, it will be a club record 48th win of the season in all competitions.
4. Can Juventus reach their first in 12 years
Seen at the underdogs going into the last four, Juventus proved a few people wrong with a 2-1 win over reigning champions Real Madrid in Turin thanks to goals by Alvaro Morata and the excellent Carlos Tevez. With just one goal separating the teams going into Wednesday night’s game, Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri says his side need to play an “almost perfect” game at the Bernabeu.
“On Wednesday we will need to deliver a performance that is almost perfect. I won’t say perfect because that is impossible in football, but for sure we’ll need our best performance to go through.”
5. Will Gareth Bale prove his critics wrong
The world’s most expensive player Gareth Bale came under fire after a poor showing in the first leg. The Welsh attacker has endured a difficult second season in Spain and rumours continue to link him with a return to the Premier League. Under pressure from the Spanish media and some Real Madrid fans, a big performance would go some way to appeasing the doubters.
The Old Lady, meanwhile, are boosted by the return of Paul Pogba, who made a goalscoring comeback in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Cagliari.
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UEFA Champions League last 4 Pep Guardiola Barcelona Bayern Munich