Barcelona I feel are in the more dangerous position. A weakened Bayern, missing the best player in the world, and people assuming they will get the win. Because the tie is setup for Barcelona to win. All their players are IN, they have the best front three right now and Bayern are a team struggling to beat Dortmund....who were fighting relegation before.
However, it would be foolish to look past the fact that Pep knows Barcelona AND....Bayern are playing as underdogs which is rare. So this is new territory for Bayern and Pep and something that may play to their advantage. Because okay, Robben and Ribery are big time, but Thiago has to be one of the best central midfielders currently now. Boateng is top three as the best central defenders and Bart Simpson is Bart Simpson, you know his quality. And there is the element of Muller who has the ability of getting it done and making chances from nothing. And it goes back to what I said was Bayern's greatest strength, which is them having the best squad in football.
Rode has shown that he can come in and do the right job for Bayern, and Weiser looks like a technically good player. So Bayern are hurting, but they can still match Barcelona for quality and what could make them edge Barca, are the tactics. How will Pep try and neutralize MSN? What tips will he give Boateng for taking Messi out of the game? And what will the pressing and defensive shape be like?
I can't wait to see how it unfolds. Because Pep knows that he needs to do two things. Stop Messi's influence which brings the Cannibal and Neymar into the game, and play a more direct attacking flow, to create chances with as few passes as possible to try and stretch and really try and put Mascherano and Pique to work.
It's football, and we can talk all we want, once that whistle goes, it is eleven versus eleven and nothing we say will influence that.
HH
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