Last week saw Bayern succumb to the powers of Lionel Messi’s Barcelona, while Juventus’ ageing heroes proved there’s still life in the Old Lady yet.
Here’s how we see this week’s games going.
Bayern Munich (0) v (3) Barcelona
Tonight 19:45
Poor Pep. Once he had the all-powerful Lionel by his side, but now he has to devise a way to stop the master Messi.
Not only that, he has to figure out how his team can turn a three-goal deficit around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj7hwM0R-4k
Going into a second leg a few goals down isn’t anything new for Guardiola. In the quarters, Porto held a two-goal lead when they travelled to Munich.
The rest, as they say, is history. Bayern trounced the Portugese side and progressed.
But Barcelona are a completely different animal to Porto and we don’t envisage a repeat of Bayern’s heroics tonight.
The Catalan side go into this tie at full-strength, while Bayern are still without several of their star performers, including Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery.
If Barca score once, Bayern need five to go through. It really does look an impossible task.
We’re backing a 2-2 draw, as we think the Bavarians will go for it, leaving themselves exposed at the back, where Messi, Neymar and Suarez will do enough to ensure progression to the final.
Real Madrid (1) v (2) Juventus
Tomorrow, 19:45
Paul Pogba has returned to full fitness to boost Juve’s hopes of progressing. The French international scored in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Cagliari in Serie A.
Fortunately for Madrid, Karim Benzema is expected to return after an extended spell on the sidelines through injury.
Juventus’ first leg lead is looking very tender, especially considering Madrid did manage to grab a vital away goal.
As much as we’d love to see battle-hardened stars such as Pirlo, Buffon and Chiellini have one last day in the sun, it’s hard to picture Real not going through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n7cUNTZsUg
Their attacking power is sensational and they also have home advantage.
We’re predicting a 2-0 victory and an El Clasico final.
