When Barcelona plays Bayern Munich later tonight at home at Camp Nou in the first leg semifinal of the UEFA Champions League 2015, two giants of European football will clash in a no-holds-barred battle. But if you think this match is just a football match, think again.
The hype has been relentless over the last few days and by midnight India time it will have crescendoed. Both teams have performed incredibly in their domestic leagues this season – Bayern have won theirs with matches to spare, and Barca are in pole position with a two-point lead over Real. As a result, the expectations from both have reached stratospheric heights. And the drama around them doesn’t seem to end – with Pep Guardiola’s return to his favourite city creating waves of emotions among Barca and Bayern fans alike.
The menace of MNS
Barca are in fine fettle this year. They are at the top of the league and have got through to the final of the Copa Del Rey, which means a treble is definitely a possibility if all pieces fall into place. If their performance against Cordoba last weekend was a taste of things to come, then Bayern have a lot of work to do. Firstly, Bayern has to figure out how to control the menace of MNS – “Messi, Neymar Jr and Suarez”– together. Just to make things clear, they have scored 108 goals this year against all opposition. All three are at the peak of their game, can score goals and assist with equanimity, and if given space can create so many problems for any team that you might think you played well and still lose comfortably while they are about it.
The midfield is world class with Xavi and Iniesta, the original masters of tiki-taka, and Mascherano, who can be a perfect foil when the frontline is breaking down opposition defences. Dani Alves is always dangerous when he makes his flanking runs and the likes of Rakitic, Rafinha, Busquets and Pedro are purring and ready to go.
The defence seems the only weak link – though I wouldn’t blame them if they have to watch the spectacle unfolding in front of their eyes day in and day out – what a job, isn’t it? The biggest thing in this Barca team is that they all feel they can score goals and when they see MNS performing in all their glory it puts added pressure on them to step up. But then MNS decides to show them a thing or two about goal scoring and the pressure is back on again. Ask Cordoba – the poor guys who stood up valiantly last week as Barca ran rings around them and toyed with their defence. MNS scored heavily and then Pique joined in and it became worse.
Guardiola’s guidance
How do you stop this team?
First, have someone like Guardiola on your side of the dugout. He knows this Barca team inside out and is probably hatching plans to stymie each player including the Big Three. Don’t give space to MNS – stay close and try and keep them off the ball. Make them lose patience and make mistakes. In midfield, it is impossible to keep Xavi and Iniesta tied down, but the supply line to MNS have to be disrupted if Bayern are to have any chance of getting through the 180 minutes. The Barca defence is known to give you the odd chance, so Bayern have to be ready to capitalise on any such opportunity as away goals will be pure gold dust in this encounter.
From Bayern’s perspective, they have a rock solid team coming out of a great Bundesliga win – but recent injuries to Robben, Ribery and Lewandowski have put them on the back foot. But Bayern know how to win and soak up the pressure in these big matches and with Guardiola’s guidance they will be no pushovers. The likes of Schweinsteiger, Gotze, Lahm and Muller will be tough to dominate, and expect a tough and tactical encounter at the very least. But if there is a goal the game will surely open up. Unlike last night’s match, there will be no dearth of attacks from either end and enough chances will be created – which team can translate those into goals is going to be worth watching.
Set your alarm, wake up around midnight and grab your coffee or beer. And then watch the gods play on Planet Earth – as two of the greatest clubs in world football take on each other in this mouth-watering encounter.
I can hardly wait.
Rathindra Basu lives, breathes, sleeps sports and is forever waiting for the next Indian sporting triumph. Since this usually takes much time and infinite patience he also listens to music, reads voraciously and eats almost anything that moves!
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The hype has been relentless over the last few days and by midnight India time it will have crescendoed. Both teams have performed incredibly in their domestic leagues this season – Bayern have won theirs with matches to spare, and Barca are in pole position with a two-point lead over Real. As a result, the expectations from both have reached stratospheric heights. And the drama around them doesn’t seem to end – with Pep Guardiola’s return to his favourite city creating waves of emotions among Barca and Bayern fans alike.
The menace of MNS
Barca are in fine fettle this year. They are at the top of the league and have got through to the final of the Copa Del Rey, which means a treble is definitely a possibility if all pieces fall into place. If their performance against Cordoba last weekend was a taste of things to come, then Bayern have a lot of work to do. Firstly, Bayern has to figure out how to control the menace of MNS – “Messi, Neymar Jr and Suarez”– together. Just to make things clear, they have scored 108 goals this year against all opposition. All three are at the peak of their game, can score goals and assist with equanimity, and if given space can create so many problems for any team that you might think you played well and still lose comfortably while they are about it.
The midfield is world class with Xavi and Iniesta, the original masters of tiki-taka, and Mascherano, who can be a perfect foil when the frontline is breaking down opposition defences. Dani Alves is always dangerous when he makes his flanking runs and the likes of Rakitic, Rafinha, Busquets and Pedro are purring and ready to go.
The defence seems the only weak link – though I wouldn’t blame them if they have to watch the spectacle unfolding in front of their eyes day in and day out – what a job, isn’t it? The biggest thing in this Barca team is that they all feel they can score goals and when they see MNS performing in all their glory it puts added pressure on them to step up. But then MNS decides to show them a thing or two about goal scoring and the pressure is back on again. Ask Cordoba – the poor guys who stood up valiantly last week as Barca ran rings around them and toyed with their defence. MNS scored heavily and then Pique joined in and it became worse.
Guardiola’s guidance
How do you stop this team?
First, have someone like Guardiola on your side of the dugout. He knows this Barca team inside out and is probably hatching plans to stymie each player including the Big Three. Don’t give space to MNS – stay close and try and keep them off the ball. Make them lose patience and make mistakes. In midfield, it is impossible to keep Xavi and Iniesta tied down, but the supply line to MNS have to be disrupted if Bayern are to have any chance of getting through the 180 minutes. The Barca defence is known to give you the odd chance, so Bayern have to be ready to capitalise on any such opportunity as away goals will be pure gold dust in this encounter.
From Bayern’s perspective, they have a rock solid team coming out of a great Bundesliga win – but recent injuries to Robben, Ribery and Lewandowski have put them on the back foot. But Bayern know how to win and soak up the pressure in these big matches and with Guardiola’s guidance they will be no pushovers. The likes of Schweinsteiger, Gotze, Lahm and Muller will be tough to dominate, and expect a tough and tactical encounter at the very least. But if there is a goal the game will surely open up. Unlike last night’s match, there will be no dearth of attacks from either end and enough chances will be created – which team can translate those into goals is going to be worth watching.
Set your alarm, wake up around midnight and grab your coffee or beer. And then watch the gods play on Planet Earth – as two of the greatest clubs in world football take on each other in this mouth-watering encounter.
I can hardly wait.
Rathindra Basu lives, breathes, sleeps sports and is forever waiting for the next Indian sporting triumph. Since this usually takes much time and infinite patience he also listens to music, reads voraciously and eats almost anything that moves!