Barcelona poised for fifth European title?

Catalan club in most favourable scenario

KARACHI: The UEFA Champions League semi-final draws were announced on Friday and it will be the Catalans hosting the Bavarian giants at the Camp Nou on May 6, while Real Madrid will continue their pursuit of La Undecima by travelling to Turin on May 5 to take on Italian champions Juventus.



We take a look at the road to the semi-finals for the last four and try to analyse which team has the potential to go all the way in Europe’s most elite competition.

Bayern Munich



Seeking their sixth European title, Bayern Munich are in prime position to give Pep Guardiola his first Champions League trophy with the Bavarian giants — having won two with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 — but have to be at their best at the Camp Nou to take a healthy advantage in the second leg on May 12 at the Allianz Arena.

Having scored the most goals in the competition, 30, from the remaining clubs, with the most recent result including the 6-1 routing of Porto at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich can most certainly topple Barcelona in their semi-final contest but would have to rely on an offensive strategy as curbing the Barcelona attack would prove to be a difficult task, especially with Bayern having leaked the most goals, 8, from the remaining four.

Also keeping in mind that Bayern have yet to face any significant opposition, having played Manchester City, Roma and CSKA Moscow in the group stages and Shakhtar Donesk, who are going through a troublesome phase due to unrest at home which included losing their home ground to shelling, and FC Porto, who last qualified for a quarter-final in 2009, in the knockout stages, the Bundesliga leaders need to be wary of the threat posed by the only team which has won the Champions League three times in the last 10 years.

Barcelona



Luis Enrique’s men had experienced a troubled start to the season with star signing Luis Suarez taking time to adjust and other off-the-field controversies damaging their momentum however, Barca could not have asked for better timings for rediscovering their form as the Catalan club are currently five points adrift second-placed Real Madrid and are in prime position to win their 23rd La Liga title.

Also their form in the Champions League has picked up with the star strike-force of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez — all three of whom are in the top 10 goalscorers in the competition —combining perfectly to deliver some breath-taking moments of football. Adding to that the priceless contributions of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona have a formidable strike force to break Bayern’s defence and book their place in the final.

Interestingly the only downside to Barcelona’s stride in this tie is the return of former manager Guardiola, who won a staggering 14 trophies and perfected the tiki-taka style of football in his four year reign at the Camp Nou. Whether he would find a way to ‘tactically’ trump Enrique is the only variable that no one can control except for the Spaniard himself as his side certainly possess the potential to challenge the Spanish leaders.

Real Madrid



Having embarked on a 22-game winning streak stretching back to their 4-1 triumph over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final, Real Madrid lost their way at the start of the year and gave up their league position to Barcelona, dropping points against Valencia, Villareal and Atletico. Their Champions League form also deteriorated and they suffered their first defeat of the season to Schalke, who almost eliminated the defending champions in the second leg after scoring four goals and needing just one to progress in the quarter-finals at the Bernabeu in Madrid.

Meanwhile, Real boss Carlo Ancelotti is hoping to write his name in the history books as he eyes to become the only manager to have won the coveted prize four times. Also Los Blancos are seeking their record 11th European triumph and are looking to become the first team to successfully defend the Champions League title in 25 years and have a fairly easy opposition in Juventus, who have made their Champions League semi-final appearance for the first time since 2003.

However, interestingly the last time the Italian champions were in the semi-final in the Champions League was also against Real Madrid, which the Bianconeri won 4-3 on aggregate and would certainly look to repeat the feat.

Juventus



Massimiliano Allegri’s men sit 15-points clear of second-placed Lazio in the domestic league, comfortably enroute to their fourth consecutive league title however, dominance in the domestic league is one thing and supremacy at the European level is another. Italian football has declined massively in the past decade and the last Italian team to lift the title was Inter Milan in 2010, when they defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Bernabeu in Madrid.

Since then no Italian side has qualified for the semi-finals and Juve have a Herculean task ahead if they are to defeat the defending champions to qualify for their first final since 2003. Also keeping in mind their lack of a goalscoring threat, with only 13 goals in the competition, Juve would have to rely on their defensive approach which has seen them conceding the least number of goals from among the semi-final contenders.

 

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