Champions League
2013-04-23 - Bayern Munich vs Barcelona
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: European Champions League
Tuesday 23 April 2013 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
Bayern Munich
By far the most intriguing game that could have been made in the Champions League Semi Finals pits the German Champions against the Spanish Champions elect. There is also the added interest in the fact that Pep Guardiola, the most successful manager in Barcelona's history, will be taking over at the Allianz Arena in the Summer.
Bayern Munich secured the Bundesliga crown in record time earlier this month, but it is clear they have unfinished business with this competition. They have fallen short in 2010 and 2012 in the Final of the Champions League and Jupp Heynckes will feel his time at the club will be a slight disappointment if he can't add to Bayern's haul of European Cups.
They have been very strong at home in the competition, winning 11 of their last 12 games here, not including the Final that was lost on penalties in this Stadium last season. Bayern Munich have won 9 of their last 10 games here in all competitions and they have won 4 in a row since losing to Arsenal 0-2. To say the side has been on fire in front of their own fans would be an understatement as Bayern have scored 23 goals and conceded 3 in their last 4 games here.
Mario Mandzukic is suspended for this game, but Bayern can bring in either Mario Gomez or Claudio Pizzaro to lead the line. Toni Kroos is injured and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Barcelona
While Barcelona are only 6 points away from reclaiming the La Liga title from Real Madrid, it has been a weird kind of season for the Catalan giants. They started off very hot, but they have suffered injuries and shown some vulnerabilities in the last couple of months which makes this an extremely big test of their credentials.
The side scored late to maintain their 13 point lead over Real Madrid in the League and there are only 6 games left for them to play. Barcelona have looked particularly vulnerable away from home in the Champions League where they are 2-1-2 this season having lost games in Milan and Celtic. Even more of a concern for them will be the fact tat they have conceded at least 2 goals in 3 of their last 4 away games in this competition.
Barcelona have entered this game on a 9 game unbeaten run in all competitions, but the away goals success over Paris Saint-Germain in the Quarter Final has people wondering about their ability to win this tie. They did beat Real Zaragoza 0-3 in their last away game, but they had failed to win any of 4 previous games on their travels in all competitions and had conceded at least 2 goals in each.
Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano could both be missing, meaning Eric Abidal is given only his second start in fourteen months. Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi were both rested in the game at the weekend and there are still some concerns about the latter.
Head to Head
This is the first meeting of these European giants since 2009 when they played in the Quarter Final stage of this competition.
On that occasion, Bayern Munich drew 1-1 here after being beaten heavily in the Nou Camp in the first leg.
Bayern Munich are 1-1-1 when hosting Barcelona, all of those games being played in the last 14 seasons.
Prediction
I think Lionel Messi will play in this game, but I still think Bayern Munich are the the team to beat in this tie and I like them to take a lead to the Nou Camp next week.
However, I think Bayern won't be taking a commanding lead to Barcelona as I do think they will concede a goal. However, they have enough attacking intent in the side to score against this defence and I am going to back the home side to win in a game where both teams will score at least once.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Bayern Munich 2-1 Barcelona
