The Final Four of soccer is starting up in a couple of hours as the Champions League semifinals will feature the two best teams from Spain and Germany. Barcelona and Real Madrid will try to prove why Spain has the best two teams in the world today, while Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will try to prove that their German teams are right up there with them.
Barcelona @ Bayern Munich (Tuesday @ 2:45 on Fox Soccer)
Barcelona and Bayern Munich have been the best two teams in Europe so far this year. They have both gone on to win their league titles relatively easy and have dominated just about everyone on their way to this semifinal match-up.
Lionel Messi has been cleared to play for Barcelona for this game and he will be the man to watch. He has been the best player in the world the last few years and hasn't shown any signs of possibly losing the top spot. With a healthy Messi, Barcelona are considered to be the favorites to win the Champions League as he has managed to score 57 goals in the 46 games he has played so far this year.
While Messi is the man to watch for Barcelona, they still feature many other world-class players in Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas. The three of them are considered to be some of the best midfielders in the sport of soccer today with Xavi and Iniesta both being perennial runners for player of the year award.
Barcelona's back four has switched depending on who has been healthy this year, but the five main guys splitting time back there have been Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano and Carles Puyol. The five of them have done a great job in helping goalkeeper Victor Valdes protect the goal all season long.
The man to watch for Munich is goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. With Madrid's Casillas being injured for a majority of this season, Neuer has stepped up as the world's best goalie. Neuer has been the key to Munich's resurgence as the top team in Germany and one of the best teams in the world. Prior to his arrival they were relying on lesser-caliber goalkeepers that had trouble when playing against the world's best.
Munich has many players on their side that could add goals for the German squad. Mario Mandzukic and Mario Gomez will split the time at striker for their side with Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery providing the help on the wings. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller will be the guys in the central midfield trying to control the game that will likely be controlled by Barcelona's passing. Munich will have to try and keep possession between those three guys as Barcelona has shown all year that they can keep possession for the majority of the game on their way to victory.
This game will feature two of the best offensive squads in the world with both teams trying to just contain the other squad rather than stop them altogether. Messi and Mandzukic will both find the nets for their squads, it's just a matter of who else will end up finding the net that will change the outcome of the game. With Munich playing at home today, I like them to come up victorious as Messi might not be 100 percent fit.
Prediction: Bayern Munich win 3-2
Real Madrid @ Borussia Dortmund (Wednesday @ 2:45 on Fox Soccer)
When you look at the prestige of these two clubs and the names that will be featured in this game, you'd expect Real Madrid to run all over Borussia Dortmund. However, that is not the case as the German side has already shown twice this season. In group play the two teams played twice with Dortmund winning one game and the other ending in draw. In the first game Dortmund won 2-1 with goals coming from Marcel Schmelzer and Robert Lewandowski with Cristiano Ronaldo getting the lone goal for Madrid. Alvarao Arbeloa scored an own goal while Marco Reus adding one of his own for the Dortmund side in the second game which ended in a 2-2 draw. Pepe and Mesut Ozil added the two goals for Real Madrid.
Neither of these teams will be winning their respective league titles as the two teams playing in Tuesday's game will be claiming those trophies. Madrid will be trying to win their tenth European title this year and are the favorite to come out of this pairing. They haven't been able to defeat the German side yet this year, but with them setting all of their focus now on the Champions League, they should be able to come out victorious.
Whenever people talk about Real Madrid the first name that comes to mind is Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is the main key to Madrid's chances, but he is not who I am worried about. All year long fans and journalists have complained about the lack of goals coming from strikers Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain. Both Benzema and Higuain have struggled this season with finding the back of the net and there have been many rumors of Madrid trying to go after some new strikers in the summer transfer market including Falcao of Atletico Madrid and Edinson Cavani of Napoli.
If Madrid is going to advance they are going to need Benzema and Higuain to step up or they will likely end up going home. If they can each manage to get at least one goal out of the two games that should be enough with Ronaldo and others being able to get in some others to advance.
Dortmund will be relying on their big three of Lewandowski, Reus and Mario Gotze for their scoring. Lewandowski and Reus have done most of the scoring for Dortmund this year with Gotze being the main playmaker for their side. Gotze has been a player on most team's radars with the summer transfer market coming up and has shown to be one of the best attacking midfielders in all of Europe.
With Madrid's usual starting goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, possibly sitting on the bench for this game, I think there will be plenty of goals to come from this week's game. Madrid was unable to defeat Dortmund so far this season and with this week's match-up taking place on the road, I'm expecting this game to end in a draw.
Prediction: Draw 2-2
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