Can Bayern go through to the semi-finals of the Champions League?
In a word, yes.
There are two past results that spring to mind when accessing Munich's slim chances. The first is Depor's 4-0 triumph over Milan at the Riazor, having been 4-1 down from the first leg. Munich may not be as good as Depor were, but the Barcelona defense is certainly nowhere near as good as the Milan defense was four seasons ago. Milan were all but through, but Depor came out like a team possessed and just tore into the Italians from the first whistle. Once that first goal went in you could sense the nerves creeping into the Milan team (players like Nesta began to make silly errors) whereas Depor really believed they could achieve what many considered to be the impossible. They did, and the overwhelming favourites for the tie went crashing out.
The second result that springs to mind is closer to home to Barcelona supporters. It was the Copa Del Rey two seasons ago, Barca v Getafe. The first leg was a rout, with Barcelona scoring five, one of which was that Messi goal. The scoreline read 5-2, and Barcelona were all but through. However, the return leg did not go accoring to plan, and the Catalans ended up losing 4-0, thus unexpectedly crashing out when common sense told us all that such a result was impossible.
This is of course a different Barcelona team to the one under Rijkaard. The personnel may be similar, but the attitude and mentality is much better, therefore you would expect that there will be no surprises. However, you just never know in football. If Barcelona approach this game as if they are already through and if Bayern approach it with the feeling that they can cause an upset then there is enough precedent to lead me to believe that you really shouldn't write off the Germans. To go through would eclipse the victories of Depor and Getafe, but I have seen enough football to know that anything that is possible can happen. Probable? No, but possible nonetheless.
First task - keep Barcelona scoreless, something that hasn't happened in La Liga since the first day of the season.
In a word, yes.
There are two past results that spring to mind when accessing Munich's slim chances. The first is Depor's 4-0 triumph over Milan at the Riazor, having been 4-1 down from the first leg. Munich may not be as good as Depor were, but the Barcelona defense is certainly nowhere near as good as the Milan defense was four seasons ago. Milan were all but through, but Depor came out like a team possessed and just tore into the Italians from the first whistle. Once that first goal went in you could sense the nerves creeping into the Milan team (players like Nesta began to make silly errors) whereas Depor really believed they could achieve what many considered to be the impossible. They did, and the overwhelming favourites for the tie went crashing out.
The second result that springs to mind is closer to home to Barcelona supporters. It was the Copa Del Rey two seasons ago, Barca v Getafe. The first leg was a rout, with Barcelona scoring five, one of which was that Messi goal. The scoreline read 5-2, and Barcelona were all but through. However, the return leg did not go accoring to plan, and the Catalans ended up losing 4-0, thus unexpectedly crashing out when common sense told us all that such a result was impossible.
This is of course a different Barcelona team to the one under Rijkaard. The personnel may be similar, but the attitude and mentality is much better, therefore you would expect that there will be no surprises. However, you just never know in football. If Barcelona approach this game as if they are already through and if Bayern approach it with the feeling that they can cause an upset then there is enough precedent to lead me to believe that you really shouldn't write off the Germans. To go through would eclipse the victories of Depor and Getafe, but I have seen enough football to know that anything that is possible can happen. Probable? No, but possible nonetheless.
First task - keep Barcelona scoreless, something that hasn't happened in La Liga since the first day of the season.
3 comments:
So this blog just served to tell us it's possible Bayern could beat Barca but it's unlikely... profound stuff.
I won't lie. More thought goes into some posts than others, but I just wanted to make the obvious point that Barcelona are not through yet. Nothing I've read has given Bayern a sniff, and as obvious as it is to correct that I felt I had to correct it nonetheless.
Also, "profound" predictions are usually ones where people go against the grain just for the sake of it, so if they're right they look great and if they're wrong then no big deal. I could have said "I think Bayern will go through", but that would have been stupid.
I stand corrected. The following appeared today...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article6090062.ece
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