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!
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