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Originally Posted by demonrail666

Barcelona are definitely vulnerable against height and I agree that Bayern will probably concede midfield and maybe even revert to something a bit more long-ball so they can bypass it altogether while still using their advantage. But that would require Bayern to largely sit back and invite pressure onto them which, if Messi, Xavi, Iniesta et al have a good night, could be disastrous. It worked against Juventus but they have far less attacking options than (a fully functioning) Barcelona.

Given your point about Bayern forsaking the midfield, what role do you think say Ribery and Robben will have?

i imagine ribery+ alaba shuttling on the left and lahm+robben on the right while boateng>martinez>schweinsteiger>mueller>gomez push up the middle.

then ribery + robben + alaba + lahm if they are not such goal gluttons will throw crosses from the corner which gomez or boateng or pizarro or mueller will headbutt into the hole behind valdez's crying eyes.

the thing is that both these teams each play a version of total football, but while barcelona is more accurate with the little passes (like a bunch of mice) bayern is more athletic and powerful.

the question is which version of the same tactical school will win. i see bayern as a more mature and balanced team whereas barcelona is a creaky old cart with the wheels falling off but a turbo engine (messi) driving it.

the other thing that i don't know is how stressed will barca be at that time battling for the copa del rey and la liga titles. although of course this is the big one, they have a little more pressure. bayern has won the bundesliga and all they have to do is prep for their barcelona match.

speaking of which, this week (tuesday?) bayern plays wolfsburg for the dfb-pokal semis if you wanna watch them in action. should they pass, they will not play again for the final until after the champions final (june 1st). so after tuesday they have nothing else to do but get ready for the following week. yes there will be a weekend bundesliga game but who gives a shit really. they can put the full bench and it's all good. meanwhile, messi might have to economize his wear & tear (though i see they had no problems creaming zaragoza which is down for relegation anyway)

tello-- i can't say i've seen him play.