Champions League: Bayern Munich - Barcelona
Bayern Munich are having a sensational season, already won the Bundesliga title, and will play in the DFB Pokal final after beated Wolfsburg (6-1). In the Champions League demolished Juventus in the 1/4-final, while last Saturday in the german Bundesliga won 6-1 against Hanover at away. The Bavarians have played 24 matches in 2013, and they won 23 times. Even the only defeat was against Arsenal (0-2) in the second leg of Champions League, after won 3:1 at Emirates in the first leg, a result that guaranteed them to progress.
They have always dominated in every sector of the pitch and created many opportunities with great percentage of accuracy. Also, the coach, Jupp Heynckes, managed to rest some of his players that considered basic. Now Mario Mandzukic will miss due to suspension, so Mario Gomez will cover his position, as he also played as a striker in the last two games for Bundesliga. Toni Kroos and Holger Badstuber are long term injured players.
Barcelona did not achieved good performance in the last home match against Levante, missed a penalty, had a canceled goal, but eventually scored at the end of the game and won 1-0. For now, the league result puts aside, as tonight Barcelona chasing a result that would keep their hopes intact for the final of CL. Lionel Messi will be totally fitt tonight, since he didn't played any game after the game against PSG, he rested and now is available. A major problem for Barcelona is the center of defense, since Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano are both injured while Adriano is banned. This position should be covered by Eric Abidal, who played 90 minutes against Levante, but he comes after a surgery and the requirements of tonight's match are very high. The 22-year old Marc Bartra is the favorite to start in central defense.
Barcelona are in all kinds of problems, especially in defense, as Mascherano and Puyol are injured, while Adriano is suspended for the first game. Also players like Pique, Alba and Song are only one yellow card from suspension, so they should be playing more careful here. I strongly believe that Bayern players have an additional motivation this season to play for their coach who is leaving the team in summer and also another strong motive is that they owe it to themselves and their fans after last years tragedy in the final that was held inside their stadium against Chelsea. Since the first leg is held at Allianz Arena the win should be the only result that the hosts should be looking for keeping in mind how things will be different in Nou Camp at the second leg.
Pick: Bayern Munich
Odds: 2.15
Bookie: Bet365
Stake: 6/10
Bet H E R E!
Viewed 1039 times
Comments and Feedback
There are no comments yet. Be the first to comment this article!
Register or log in to submit your comment.
64 guests, 0 users are online right now.