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UEFA Champions League: Your Running Commentary

UEFAChampionsLeagueLogo (Getty)

By DAN KARELL

Two of the world’s soccer heavyweights collide today in the Allianz Arena, as Bayern Munich play host to FC Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals (2:45pm, Fox Soccer Channel).

Barcelona will be led by Lionel Messi, who has recovered from his hamstring injury and will start today. Messi will be called up on to try and help Barca enjoy better first-leg success than in the previous two rounds of the knockout stages.  The Spanish club has fallen, 2-0, to AC Milan and tied Paris Saint-Germain, 2-2, in their first-leg matches.

Bayern won’t be nervous though, having won 11 of their last 13 Champions League matches at home, and having lost at home just once this season in the Bundesliga. With a fully fit squad, there are more than enough options for manager Jupp Heynckes to choose from.

If you will be watching today’s match (and let’s face it, most of you will) please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (You can see a closer look at today’s match-up after the jump):

BAYERN MUNICH vs. BARCELONA

2:45pm, Fox Soccer Channel

Players to Watch: BAYERN MUNICH – Franck Ribery, Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben; BARCELONA – Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, David Villa.

Quick Kicks: Bayern Munich have a nearly full roster, and even so, will have a good selection headache to deal with for Tuesday’s match. Mario Mandzukic is suspended, so the starting forward will either be Claudio Pizarro or Mario Gomez. Toni Kroos is still injured with a torn muscle in his hip. Barcelona will be without Javier Mascherano and Carles Pujol, but were boosted by Eric Abidal’s first start since his liver transplant last Saturday.

If you will be watching today’s Champions League action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. No doubt, Bayern ruled the match, but first 3 goals should have all been disallowed. Too bad timid refereeing ruined a potentially great series.

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  2. I’ll say this….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!
    Did that crow taste good, followed by some humble pie Barca?!?!?!?!

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  3. Hahaha we’re you at chitown? Bayern just ripped barca a new one. Can’t wait to watch Dortmund do the same to Madrid. Like I said Bundesliga > La liga

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  4. Trying to decide which was better….the lashing that Bayern gave Barca or the lashing that Herc just gave Don Garber on Twitter.

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  5. if Barca can come back from this to reach the final and certaintly possible that they can, they truly are 1 of the best teams of all time

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  6. One of the knocks on Messi has been that he couldn’t function outside the Barcelona system, that the system made him better. I think his injury has given evidence for the opposite, that he makes everyone around him better by simply being an exemplar on how to play at the highest level ever. He’s an exemplar when fully healthy, and Barcelona is not the same team when he is not fully healthy.

    ex·em·plar
    /igˈzemplər/
    Noun
    A person or thing serving as a typical example or excellent model.

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  7. wow pick and roll.. wait can you do that… should have been a foul on Bayern, but regardless, they are taking to to Barcelona.

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  8. Is it just me or is Robben’s work rate insane this game. I always knew him to be selfish and an okay defender. He’s all over this pitch. Wow. He must really not want to lose the starting spot again.

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  9. Messi not one burst yet, perhaps better on the bench this week? he’ll probably do something amazing now

    but not before Gomez scores 2-0 Bayern, again the aerial game. was he offsides?

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  10. Busquets is easily one of the players I dislike the most. He tries act like a hard man, plays dirty, then flops after he commits a foul. What a *itch

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  11. Abidal is not starting…

    Valdez, Alves, Bartra, Pique, Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi, Alexis

    Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Alaba, Javi Martinez, Schweinsteiger, Robben, Muller, Ribery, Gomez

    Reply
  12. Barcelona 😀 they won the competition in 09 and 2011. Bayern reached the final in 2010 and 2012, so next year they will reach the final only to lose to PSG,

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