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In the spring of 2013, Bayern Munich marched into Barcelona's Camp Nou with a clear objective: Finish of the Catalans. An explosion of goals in the first leg back in Munich meant that FC Bayern were almost assured a spot in the Final. The Bayern players were in the form of their lives, while injuries were clearly hampering Barca. FC Bayern left Spain with a 3-0 victory. The world was shocked. Pep Guardiola watched his future team crush his former team.
Two years later, Guardiola returns to Barcelona for the first time with Bayern Munich. Unfortunately for Pep, injuries have decimated the Bavarians this season. Bayern will be without Holger Badstuber, Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, and Tom Starke thanks to injuries. Many players aren't close to 100% in their health. Robert Lewandowski will be wearing a mask to protect his injured face. Javi Martinez is set to play in just his second game since August.
Still, this FC Bayern squad is good enough to compete with a world power like Barcelona who aren't in the middle of an injury crisis. There's no question that Bayern has their work cut out for them. After last season's embarrassing semifinal defeat at the hands of Real Madrid, there is no doubt that the players are hungry to prove themselves once again on the world stage.
This is step one of a two step process. Bayern need to handle their business in Barcelona, before winning this tie in Munich next week.
Once the lineups are released, this thread will be updated.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli
Location: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
Time: 2:45 PM EDT, 8:45 PM CET (local)
Television: Fox Sports 1 (USA - English), Fox Deportes (USA - Spanish), Sky Sports 1 (UK), Sky Sport 1 (Germany), Sportsnet World (Canada), ESPN (Australia), Ten HD (India), Orange TV (Indonesia)
Streaming: Fox Sports GO (USA), Fox Soccer 2 Go (USA), Sky GO (UK), Sky Go Deutschland (Germany), Sportsnet World Now (Canada), ESPN3 (Australia), Ten Sports Live (India)
Full Listings: Other Countries
Barcelona
Neymar - Lionel Messi - Luis Suarez
Andres Iniesta - Sergio Busquets - Ivan Rakitic
Jordi Alba - Javier Mascherano - Gerard Pique - Dani Alves
Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Bench: Claudio Bravo, Thomas Vermaelen, Marc Bartra, Adriano, Xavi, Rafinha, Pedro
Bayern Munich
Thomas Müller - Robert Lewandowski
Thiago Alcantara
Bastian Schweinsteiger - Xabi Alonso - Philipp Lahm
Juan Bernat - Jerome Boateng - Medhi Benatia - Rafinha
Manuel Neuer
Bench: Pepe Reina, Dante, Javi Martinez, Gianluca Gaudino, Mario Götze, Mitchell Weiser, Claudio Pizarro
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