Forget the hype swirling around yet another meeting between Chelsea and Barcelona, there is no doubt in my mind that the more enticing fixture in this season's set of semi finals is the contest between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. And as the two giants of European football prepare to battle this evening in the Allianz Arena, a great deal is at stake.
Bayern Munich have been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime; the opportunity to participate in the Final of European football's greatest club competition, the UEFA Champions League, in their own ground, the venue for tonight's battle with Mourinho's men. And for Jose's La Liga leaders, it is a chance for the Portuguese to enter yet another final, after lifting the giant trophy with both Porto and Inter Milan.
For all the talk of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta gracing English turf once more, this intriguing battle between the Germans and the Spaniards has been left simmering under the surface, bubbling and ready to explode in what is bound to be far more thrilling than the rather one-sided match-up of Chelsea and Barcelona. Granted, Chelsea have suddenly sparked the imaginations of their fans, with Roberto Di Matteo rekindling the spirit of Mourinho, while Barcelona have recently been labelled as being human after all and have had weaknesses identified, something that seems absurd given they have a talisman who has now scored 63 goals already this season.
However, behind all of this hype, Barcelona have an inherent knowledge of how to win games, after countless trophies, many of which have come under the reign of current manager Pep Guardiola, who has created a seemingly unassailable powerhouse, a team with so many dimensions and a team able to control games at will. For all the luck of offside goals and goals where the ball didn't even cross the line, the rookie Di Matteo is going to need far more than luck. Against a withered Tottenham side, Chelsea had a field day, yet tomorrow night is a test of a whole different magnitude. It is a test of whether they can even keep the ball against the mercurial pass masters.
In essence, tonight's game is one that should be far more enthralling, with Bayern Munich packing tremendous power and oozing attacking ability in the shape of former Real and Chelsea winger Arjen Robben, and the likes of Franck Ribery and leading scorer Mario Gomez. This is a team that blitzed Basle 7-0 previous to this, and also finished top of a seemingly tricky group which included Manchester City, and with the incentive of a home final, they may feel that their name is on the trophy, something famously snatched from them in 1999 against Manchester United.
But with Jose Mourinho at the helm, you can never write him off, as has he galvanised arguably Europe's biggest name and even taken them above Barcelona with the La Liga title race drawing towards its dramatic conclusion. It cannot be doubted that both teams will be going all out tonight to write history for their famous clubs, which sets it up as an exciting night, something that seems to have been lost on those merely concentrating on the game tomorrow night, which Chelsea will be lucky to survive to the second leg, in my eyes.
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