Barcelona VS Bayern München., Live Commentary

Barcelona

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VS

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Bayern München

Live Commentary

Commentary Main events

• 1'

  We are underway in the first half! The home side are in their customary burgundy and blue, with Bayern in a changed away strip of all white. The Champions League anthem rings out in the evening air, with Guardiola nipping onto his away bench without anything in the way of ceremony. This should be a cracker!
• 'We are ready' is the slogan of the home fans' choreography, with both teams streaming out of the tunnel and onto the Camp Nou turf! It's a full house, as would be expected, with this contest being undisputedly the biggest of the football season thus far!
• Bayern substitutes: Dante, Martinez, Pizarro, Gaudino, Gotze, Reina, Weiser.
• Bayern starting line-up (4-4-2): Neuer; Rafinha, Benatia, Boateng, Bernat; Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Alonso, Thiago; Lewandowski, Muller.
• Barcelona substitutes: Xavi, Pedro, Rafinha Alcantara, Bravo, Bartra, Adriano, Vermaelen.
• Barcelona starting line-up (4-3-3): ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar.
• TEAM NEWS: Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, David Alaba and Holger Badstuber miss out due to injury for the away side. Javi Martinez is fit enough to feature on the bench, after an hour's run out versus Leverkusen last weekend. Mehdi Benatia is preferred to Dante in defence, with Philipp Lahm being asked to do a job on the right-hand side of midfield. Thiago Alcantara will be tasked with the role of supporting Thomas Muller and Roberto Lewandowski, against his former employers. The latter is forced to play with a protective mask, after fracturing facial bones and suffering a concussion in a collision with Dortmund goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak.
• TEAM NEWS: Marc-Andre ter Stegen continues as Barca's cup goalkeeper, with no other selection surprises for the home side. Jeremy Mathieu misses out due to an Achilles problem, with the Frenchman replaced at the heart of the hosts' defence by the capable Javier Mascherano. After being passed fit in recent weeks, Thomas Vermaelen is included on the bench. Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta are chosen to sit ahead of Sergio Busquets in midfield, while the usual trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar Junior and Luis Suarez start up top.
• While Bayern have only scored twice in their last two outings in cup and league fixtures, Barca have managed to rack up a stunning 14 goals. Enrique's men will be high on confidence after absolutely dismantling both Getafe and Cordoba in recent weeks, regardless of their opponents' league positions. Fortunately for Guardiola, the visitors have been able to welcome back a couple of additional faces from injury over the past couple of weeks.
• Bayern could line up with either a three-man defence and five players in midfield, or with a back four and a midfield diamond. A lot will depend on the position of Rafinha, with the Brazilian right-back ready to deployed either at full-back, or on the left-hand side of a back three. Guardiola is known to be a tinkerman, but there can be no doubts about how his opponent will line up. It will be the usual 4-3-3 for the Blaugrana tonight.
• I'm Simon Harrison and I will be keeping you up to date with all of the action developing at Camp Nou, as the home fans welcome back their former coach who enjoyed such unprecedented success with the Blaugrana many moons ago. Bayern did manage to wrap up another German top-flight title a fortnight ago, but the Bavarians giants have a completely different task on their hands this evening. The hosts have won their last seven home matches, with two losses at the hands of Celta Vigo and Malaga the only upsets to spoil a wonderful season on familiar turf.
• Hello and welcome to live coverage of tonight's Champions League semi-final first leg in Catalonia! It is Pep Guardiola's return to Camp Nou, as Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich travel across Europe to face Luis Enrique's in-form Barcelona. Die Roten arrive with some important players on the treatment table, with defeats against Bayer Leverkusen and, albeit on penalties, Borussia Dortmund in their last two outings.