MX23RW : Wednesday, April 24 02:23:31| >> :120:10564:10564:

Preview: Bayern Munich vs. Barcelona

Preview: Bayern vs. Barca
© AP Photos
Sports Mole looks ahead to the first leg of the showpiece Champions League semi-final between Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

Europe's two most dominant clubs meet in a Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

Bayern Munich welcome Barcelona to the Allianz Arena in the first semi, with another German-Spanish battle taking place between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid the following day.

Bayern are 20 points clear and have already sealed the Bundesliga title, while Barca hold a 13-point lead over Real in La Liga.

Both sides go into the match on the back of domestic wins, with Bayern moving their goal difference to +75 with a 6-1 thrashing of Hannover, while Barca saw off Levante thanks to Cesc Fabregas's goal.

Lionel Messi has been passed fit for the clash, overcoming a hamstring strain to play for the visitors, who are looking to extend an eight-match unbeaten sequence on German soil.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes will have to decide whether to continue with in-form Mario Gomez up front. He has scored five goals in the last two games but is second-choice to Mario Mandzukic.

These two last met in the 2008-09 quarter-finals and it was Barca who triumphed 5-1 on aggregate after four goals in the first half of the first leg in Catalonia. Thierry Henry was one of the scorers in that match.

Recent form

Bayern: WWWWWW

Barca: WWDWDD

Possible starting lineups

Bayern: Neuer; Lahm, Van Buyten, Dante, Alaba; Martinez, Schweinsteiger; Robben, Muller, Ribery; Mandzukic

Barca: Valdes; Dani Alves, Pique, Adriano, Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi, Villa

Sports Mole says: 1-1


ID:80658: cacheID:80658:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3852:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Bayern defender Dante rues a miss against Borussia Moenchengladbach on December 14, 2012
Read Next:
Dante: 'Messi and Barcelona are the best'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Munar
Borges
10am
Navone
Popyrin
10am
Vukic
Daniel
10am
Bouzas Maneiro
Badosa
10am
Davis
Sherif
10am
Putintseva
Yuan
10am
Stephens
Trevisan
10am
Zhu
Jimenez Kasintseva
11.30am
Altmaier
Landaluce
11.30am
Rinderknech
Shevchenko
11.30am
Safiullin
Seyboth Wild
11.30am
Arango
Anisimova
11.30am
Sorribes Tormo
Pera
11.30am
Zhang
Rogers
12pm
Osaka
Minnen
12pm
Vekic
Siegemund
1pm
Darderi
Monfils
1pm
Karatsev
Marozsan
1pm
Van Assche
Bergs
1pm
Linette
Cocciaretto
1pm
Wang
Tomova
1pm
Wang
Dolehide
1.30pm
Dart
Bucsa
1.30pm
Raducanu
Lourdes Carle
2.30pm
Bronzetti
Gracheva
2.30pm
Frech
Cristian
2.30pm
Hibino
Krueger
3pm
Coric
Hassan
3pm
Kokkinakis
Draper
3pm
Nakashima
Bagnis
3pm
Van De Zandschulp
Eubanks
4pm
Baptiste
Saville
4pm
Bejlek
Blinkova
4pm
Errani
Wozniacki
4pm
Montgomery
Avanesyan
4.30pm
Klein
Llamas Ruiz
4.30pm
Burel
Danilovic
5pm
Moutet
Shang
5.30pm
Diaz Acosta
Shapovalov
6pm
Andreeva
Townsend
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Real Madrid32256170224881
2Barcelona32217464372770
3GironaGirona32215667402768
4Atletico MadridAtletico32194959382161
5Athletic Bilbao321610652302258
6Real Sociedad321312746341251
7Real BetisBetis32121284038248
8Valencia32138113534147
9Villarreal32119125155-442
10Getafe32913103844-640
11Osasuna32116153746-939
12Sevilla32910134145-437
13Las PalmasLas Palmas32107153039-937
14AlavesAlaves3298152838-1035
15Rayo Vallecano32713122739-1234
16Celta Vigo32710153747-1031
17Mallorca32613132638-1231
18CadizCadiz32413152245-2325
19Granada3239203361-2818
20Almeria32111203164-3314


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!