The best four attacking sides in Europe make this one of the most exciting Champions League semi finals of all time!

Arguably, the four best teams in Europe this season have made it to the semi finals of the Champions League this year.

This means, we won't have to worry about the ultimately effective yet totally anti football tactics of De Matteo's Chelsea of last year!

The semi finalists in this year's Champions League are undoubtedly the most exciting attacking sides anywhere in Europe at the moment.

And the draw has ended up being the battle of Germany vs Spain. This is a battle that at club level the Germans have won in the recent past whilst at National level the Spaniards have been the victors.

Bayern & Dortmund have been victors vs Real Madrid in the last two years whilst Dortmund deservedly albeit luckily accounted for Malaga in the quarter finals & Bayern got the better of Valencia in the group stage in this year's competition.

Therefore, whist the media are salivating for the dream Barcelona vs Real Madrid final, they may once again be disappointed this year! Both contests are very close, and over the two leg, a combination of tactics, focus & luck will tell which two teams will prevail & reach the final at Wembley.

Whilst on paper Bayern seem to have ended up with the tougher draw, as a friend rightly pointed out to me, Barcelona are much less difficult to account for over two legs than in a one off final match. (a point that PSG nearly proved right  in the quarter finals this year & Chelsea accomplished last year).

Bayern have already been crowned Bundesliga Champions & can rest players & focus on Barcelona, although Barcelona themselves are almost guaranteed of winning the LaLiga. As a result the battle once again predictably comes down to how Bayern disrupt the mesmerising telepathic connection between the trio of Messi/Xavi/Iniesta. As seen in the quarter final second leg vs PSG, Messi only needs to be on the field to unsettle opponents!

On the other hand, Dortmund & Real Madrid know each other only too well having already played twice in the group stage (at the time many commentators predicted the winner this year would be one of those two).

On the subject of whether first match is played at home or away, I actually prefer the home game first because of the away goals rule & the fact that it makes the team less anxious in the second leg. So, advantage the Germans in that aspect.

This year's final pairing is anyone's guess. The only certainty is the finalists will be worthy of their success & one of the best 4 teams in Europe this year will win the Champions League this year.

More than ever before,  regardless of the heartache of last year's loss to Chelsea in Munich, my heart & mind are united in saying this is Bayern's time to shine & rule European football!
And the emphatic & free scoring ways they have accounted for themselves this year mean I may not be too far off the mark!

What if Barcelona didn't have Messi & Messi didn't have Xavi, Iniesta & co?

Before any criticism is directed at me for the title of this post, let me start by qualifying my personal opinion:
I am old enough to have seen many great players gracing the world game in almost 40 years as a serious football fanatic, and have watched most classic matches before my time in the 1950s & 60s to see the best of those era in action.

Based on that, I admire Messi as one of, if not the most skillful & graceful player of all time. At the same time, I rate the Barcelona team of the last decade (from Frank Rijkaard days as a coach to now) as one of the greatest teams of all time, both at club & national level.

Having stated the above, when Messi did not return after the half time due to an injury in the quarter final clash in the Champions League against PSG, it became more than ever clear to me that Messi & Barcelona must win titles without each other in order to be crowned as the greatest individual player & best team of all time respectively:

Here's the simple reason why:

Messi has won everything with the support of the incomparable Xavi & Iniesta, who have in turn led other hugely talented players in support of Messi. This was evident with the inch perfect pass of Daniel Alvez to Messi for his goal vs PSG. Therefore, Messi needs to prove his leadership qualities in a team which does not include Xavi & Iniesta in particular! ie he must lead Argentina to the World Cup triumph in order to displace Pele & Maradona from their nominal & arbitrary position as the greatest players of all time.

And the reverse simply applies to Barcelona! They are the most watched & copied team in the world & football fans across the world are lucky to be following football in the era of Barcelona, Messi & co. But Barcelona must win the Champions League & La Liga without Messi & his goal scoring feasts in order to become the undisputed best team of all time!

I repeat again,this post is not arguing the magnificent & graceful football of Barcelona & Messi! I am in awe like millions of other fans around the world! But the little niggling matter of "what if Barcelona didn't have Messi & Messi didn't have Xavi & Iniesta" continues to circle in my head every time I watch Barcelona & Messi, as I am sure it does in many other football fans' heads!