UEFA Champions League Final Preview

UEFA Champions League Final: Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund

How'd They Get Here:
Bayern Munich:
Round of 16 vs. Arsenal - Leg 1: Bayern Win 3-1, Leg 2: Arsenal Win 2-0, AGG: Draw 3-3 (Bayern Wins on Away Goals)
Quarterfinals vs. Juventus - Leg 1: Bayern Win 2-0, Leg 2: Bayern Win 2-0, AGG: Bayern Win 4-0
Semifinals vs. Barcelona - Leg 1: Bayern Win 4-0, Leg 2: Bayern Win 3-0, AGG: Bayern Win 7-0

Borussia Dortmund:
Round of 16 vs. Shakhtar Donetsk - Leg 1: Draw 2-2, Leg 2: Dortmund Win 3-0, AGG: Dortmund Win 5-2
Quarterfinals vs. Malaga - Leg 1: Draw 0-0, Leg 2: Dortmund Win 3-2, AGG: Dortmund Win 3-2
Semifinals vs. Real Madrid - Leg 1: Dortmund Win 4-1, Leg 2: Madrid Win 2-0, AGG: Dortmund Win 4-3

The Lineups:
Bayern Munich:
Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer
Defense: Dante, Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm, David Alaba
Midfield: Franck Ribery, Javi Martinez, Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller, Bastian Schweinsteiger
Forward: Mario Mandzukic
Bench: Tom Starke, Daniel van Buyten, Xherdan Shaqiri, Luis Gustavo, Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Claudio Pizarro, Mario Gomez

Borussia Dortmund:
Goalkeeper: Roman Weidenfeller
Defense: Marcel Schmelzer, Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Lukasz Piszczek
Midfield: Ilkay Gundogan, Sven Bender, Kevin Grobkreutz, Marco Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski
Forward: Robert Lewandowski
Bench: Mitchell Langerak, Felipe Santana, Sebastian Kehl, Moritz Leitner, Nuri Sahin, Oliver Kirch, Julian Schieber

The Game:

At the beginning of the semifinals, if you told me that the two teams in the final would be from the same country, I definitely would've thought it was Barcelona and Real Madrid. Those two Spanish teams were the favorites all season long and at the end of the semifinals it was the German squads that pulled off the upsets.

Both teams have won the Champions League Trophy before as Bayern Munich has won it four times, as most recently as 2001 and Borussia Dortmund winning the title their only time in 1997.

The key missing piece to this game is Borussia Dortmund midfielder, Mario Gotze. Gotze has been the key piece to the success of Dortmund all season with his superb play in the center of the midfield and he will be on the sideline for this game. Having Gotze on the field would've made for a huge story as he is moving to Bayern Munich over the summer.

Even with Gotze on the pitch, Bayern Munich were the better team all season, so without Dortmund's key player I just can't see Dortmund coming away victorious in this game. In the German Bundesliga this season Munich finished 25 points ahead of second-place Dortmund and only tasted defeat once to a German side all season long.

When I look at the starting lineups for today's game I am not surprised by anything. Each team is going with the lineups that have gotten them to this point in the season. When I compare the two's different parts of the lineups, I have the two teams coming out even:

Lineup Comparison:
Goalkeeper: Advantage Bayern Munich
Defense: Advantage Borussia Dortmund
Midfield: Advantage Bayern Munich
Forward: Advantage Borussia Dortmund

While I have the two teams coming out even with each having the advantage in two places, Bayern's advantages are much greater at goalkeeper and midfield while Dortmund doesn't have too big of an advantage at defense or the forward position.

The main difference between the two teams is the goalkeeper position. I have been saying all year that Manuel Neuer was the best goalkeeper in the world and I still believe it. While Weidenfeller isn't a slouch, I don't think he's in the same league as Neuer. Neuer will be the key in this game as he will have his hands full with Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus. Both of those guys will likely get a goal in this game, but Neuer will likely save around 10 throughtout the 90 minutes.

I think Mario Mandzukic and Franck Ribery will do the some of the scoring early for Munich with Mario Gomez coming on in the second half for Mandzukic and scoring the game winner. Dortmund rely on two guys for most of the scoring, but Bayern has five or six guys in their lineup that could possibly do the damage today.

I'm expecting a close game for 90 minutes and wouldn't be shocked if this somehow went past the 90 minutes. I'm just hoping that this game doesn't come down to the crap shoot that is the penalty shootout.

My Prediction: Bayern Munich win 3-2
Man of the Match: Manuel Neuer
Goals: Bayern - Mandzukic, Ribery & Gomez / Dortmund - Lewandowski & Reus

Champions League Semifinals Leg 2

The second legs of the Champions League semifinals are today and tomorrow at 2:45 pm on Fox Soccer. To the surprise of many, both of the German sides were able to come out victorious in the first legs with each winning rather handily over the Spanish opposition. Borussia Dortmund were victorious 4-1 over Real Madrid with Bayern Munich winning 4-0 over Barcelona.

Borussia Dortmund @ Real Madrid (Tuesday @ 2:45 on Fox Soccer) (AGG: Dortmund 4-1)

The key for this game is whether or not Real Madrid can STOP Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski managed to score all four goals against Real Madrid in the first leg and was unstoppable. He had his way with Madrid's back four and made goalkeeper, Diego Lopez, look like he didn't belong out there.

I'm shocked to see Diego Lopez has been named the starting goalkeeper after the last performance and thought that Real Madrid should definitely change it up and go with their captain, Iker Casillas. Casillas has been the guy in front of net for years now and has managed to lose his starting job due to injury. He should have been the first choice in front of goal for Madrid and it shouldn't have even been a question.

Madrid will need to win this game either 3-0 or 4-1 most likely if they are going to advance. They need to outscore Dortmund by at least three goals in order to tie up the aggregate. If the game ends 3-0 Madrid they would advance. If it ended 4-1 it would go to penalty kicks. If Dortmund scored two or more goals then Madrid would need to win by at least four goals.

Dortmund will likely come into this game trying to play defensively. They have the three goal lead and will be trying to do everything in their power to keep that lead. Expect the center backs of Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic to have their hands full today, but they should be able to keep it from not getting too out of hand.

If Madrid is going to win they are going to need a surplus of goals that they just weren't able to get in the first leg. Gonzalo Higuain is getting the start with Karim Benzema likely coming on at halftime. They will both need to score if they are going to want to end up in the final. Cristiano Ronaldo will likely get one goal so they will need their defense to step up and possibly keep Dortmund scoreless. Ronaldo was the only man for Madrid to get a goal in the first leg.

While I think Madrid will get a good amount of goals, I'm not sure if they have a four-goal night in them today. I think Dortmund will be able to get the one goal they'll need as they will keep this game close enough to advance.

Prediction: Real Madrid wins 3-1 (Borussia Dortmund Advances on Aggregate 5-4)

Bayern Munich @ Barcelona (Wednesday @ 2:45 on Fox Soccer) (AGG: Munich 4-0)

As crazy as it was to see Real Madrid lose by three goals, it was even crazier to see Barcelona go down by four. Thomas Muller led Bayern Munich with two of their four goals with Arjen Robben and Mario Gomez each adding one apiece.

The team that is considered the best in the world manage to go scoreless in one of the biggest games of the year and they will have to change a lot if they are going to advance to the final. Their defense allowed four goals, which is unheard of for Barcelona. Their four or five defenders that they use are all arguably a part of the top 10 defenders in the world right now.

Barcelona can't afford to let in a single goal tonight and if they do it will likely be over. If one goal is to go in for Munich, Barcelona would have to score at least six in order for them to advance. If Barcelona is going to advance they are going to have to pull off the impossible.

I'm expecting Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas will have to come out and try to get some goals on the board early. They can't afford to wait too far into the game to start racking up the goals. I could even see Barcelona going to a three-man defense in back and trying to play a much more offensive game.

In all seriousness I just don't think Barcelona has a shot in hell at advancing. There's no way that Bayern Munich is going to slow down their scoring and there's no way Barcelona is going to score five or six goals. Manuel Neuer will have a long night tomorrow, but it will be worth it when his team is playing in what will likely be an all-German Champions League Final.

Prediction: Barcelona wins 3-2 (Bayern Munich Advances on Aggregate 6-3)

Champions League Semifinals Leg 1

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