Bayern meet Barcelona!

If there are two teams that social media has compared the most with the cliched 'unstoppable force' tag this year, they would be Bayern Munich and Barcelona. After the draw, I'm seeing a lot of 'Oh no Barca!', 'Oh no Bayern', 'we'll easily beat them' messages from both sides of the fence. Mostly, many fans of both teams wished they didn't meet each other for the Semis.

When the draw for the Semifinals was made, I was kind of hoping it would come to this - both as a fan of Bayern and as a fan of the game.

As a fan of the game, I can see Dortmund play Bayern every year. At least twice. Out of Madrid and Barcelona, Barcelona's system is considered the more superior by a majority of the critics & media worldwide. Hence, it'd be great to see this 'deutscher-meister' Bayern side take them on over two legs, when the odds are even (home & away) and both teams have two legs to play to-and-fro strategy, in addition to the brilliance that evolves during the period of the game.

Why not Madrid? 

Much as I'd like an all German final, I expect Real Madrid to leave Dortmund behind this time. During the 'group of death' matches, Real would have spent the lowest amount of time preparing for BVB, focusing more on Barcelona at home and getting the better of Man City in the CL. This time around, Dortmund have Mourinho's complete attention. He's very good at destroying an inexperienced side at this level - even with a slightly above average, upcoming squad (Porto!). With a squad like Madrid's, Dortmund have an Everest to climb. All due respect to Dortmund, though. They have been brilliant and have it in them to see Real off, but I don't see that happening over these two matches.

But wait, this post is about Bayern, right? 

It'd make perfect sense for Bayern to meet Real in the final. We know, saw and cried over what Mourinho did to Bayern with his Inter. He's exceptionally good at strategising for one-off matches. I have been amazed time and again by the stuff he comes up with for these matches - at Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Madrid. It is WAY more difficult to beat Madrid in the final as against meeting them in the Semis. As a fan of Bayern, this makes it the most difficult way to winning the League.

You can't expect me (and my kind) to survive yet another final or SF loss, no? 

But yes, I prefer this fixture. I want Bayern to win the Semis. I want Bayern to win the Final. If we do it, though, there's not a damn way in hell Bayern can be put down in any argument.

There can't be a 'German Champions? That's not a competitive league!' even from the most ignorant among idiots. There can't be a 'But you didn't meet Barcelona, no? That's the best team out there'.

No. Bayern will be the best team in Europe, across leagues.

Why do I have this crazy wish for difficult fixtures? 

Because I am what I am.

When you see a Bayern match and see fans holding a big banner that says, 'Mia San Mia!', that's what it means.

Bayern - Lyon, 1st leg, Semifinal UCL 2009-10 - review

I came home at 1.15 AM (90 minutes back) after a rather long work-day, just in time for the second half of the first leg Semi between Bayern and Lyon. Tymoschuk was replacing Ivica Olic while Muller was already in. Wondered what tragedy would want a forward to be replaced by someone not-so-forwardish. Three minutes into the second half, I was wondering why Schweini had to run so much and be everywhere and still have too many Lyon players around him. Only when Toulalan got his first yellow, the commentator mentioned the Red card for Ribery. What?

From the replays, looks like he deserved it.

Ten on eleven is a scary prospect. van Gaal made one correct substitution after quite a while. Muller playing a lone CF with Schweini moving to his natural position was another positive move. But clearly, the day belonged to one Arjen Robben from the Netherlands. Beating one of the world's best keepers in Lloris isn't easy, even if aided by luck. He deserved a goal for his play, though. There was talk in the commentary box about Bastian missing chances in the first half but turning around so effectively in the second. I'd say that happens when there's no Ribery he has to adjust to.

Bayern just showed other teams how to play with ten men against eleven...and not lose and blame it on the card later. Superior possession with I think three to four times the no of passes, great running except for a coupla losers, really good overall. I want to know the distance covered by Schweini. He was freakin everywhere today. 'Supreme presence on the field', as the commentator put it.

Gomez, the worst forward in the history of the game, played at his best and had so many Gomez moments that I lost count of them. Bayern and Germany are probably the only teams in the world who could have such a joker on their side and still win. Robben would cry for two days at the 'shockingly innovative' Gomez header. Schweini passed a perfect ball to him around 70'. Any striker in the world would have turned around. Gomez back-passed it to a LYON player. Repeated it again at 83' or 85'. After a save by Lloris off Robben, the ball was well on its way to get Bayern a corner. But oh yea, Gomez flew in to save the ball and try to score. He saved a corner for Lyon as the bloody guy was offside. I was like FTW! And hey Barca fans, you call Ibra's performance bad?? If Ibra's bad, this guy is tragedy to the power of catastrophe. Why Gomez would come on with Klose on the bench is something only van Gaal can answer. Why gomez would come on in the first place is for everyone to solve. Is he related to Gerd Muller or Beckenbauer?

Anyway, I couldn't have picked a better half to watch this week. Here's hoping I watch both matches completely next week. Lyon's a scary side with amazing talent. Didn't know they had Delgado, Toulalan, pjanic, Makoun, Lissandro and Lloris. No wonder they beat Madrid.

Player rater (for second half alone):

22 Butt - Not as bad as usual. There was this one time though, when he thought he was a spectator and did nothing when Lyon attacked. Thankfully, nothing happened.
05 Van Buyten - Good. Wasn't threatened at all.
06 Demichelis - Awesome.
21 Lahm - Awesome.
26 Contento - Not much to do
07 Ribery (red) - Didn't see him play
23 Pranjic (yellow) - Didn't see much of him (Gomez 63 - He deserves a separate post)
31 Schweinsteiger - God
10 Robben - God 2.0 (Altintop 85 - Not much to do)
11 Olic - Didn't see him play (Tymoschuk 46 - Good. Especially the assist)
25 Muller - Had a couple of Gomez moments. Btw, that's an insult. How much more could Lahm have done there??? Trying to move back that way? Gimme a break.

01 Lloris - Awesome
03 Cris - Good
13 Reveillere - Didn't know who he was
20 Cissokho - Good
06 Kallstrom - Not bad
08 Pjanic - didn't see much of him (Makoun 55 - Good)
10 Ederson - Didn't see much of him (Michel Bastos 71 (yellow) - Average)
28 Toulalan (yellow, red) - Unlucky chap
41 Gonalons - Who?
09 Lopez - He didn't have much attacking to do today
19 Delgado - Awesome any day (Govou 79 - had a good chance towards the end. Mis-hit.)

C ya next week! Cricket till then.

UEFA Champions League 2009 - The second leg of the Round of 16

First Leg : Bayern 5 - 0 Sporting

Bayern rules! And it is the perfect time to show the world what they are capable of doing. The Germans are back on the European map and how!

The biggest concern for Bayern would be consistency. They lose one match miserably and dominate the next. This is not a great sign for a world class team. Given the immensely talented squad and an impressive home record, the Second leg would be more of a formality...Bayern's through!

I sincerely hope that this year, Bayern will do enough to get this bad feeling away from me.. The feeling that I am the only person in Bangalore who follows Bundesliga results.

Ribery's form reached its peak in the last match. Something I have not seen before from him. Klose, his usual composed self, Schweini & Rensing under performing a little, Lahm at his usual best and Luca Toni finally finding his feet. In the second leg though, my bet is that Klinsmann will give more field time to Altintop, Podolski and Borowski, and less time to van Bommel, given his booking status. Resting Toni would do their Bundesliga quest a world of good.

No comments about Sporting. There's no way out of this.

Prediction? It's a certainty.

Bayern Munich to set up an Academy in Kolkata, India

Vielen Danke Bayern!

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