Last nights Champions League results leave German giants Bayern Munich and European champions Barcelona in pole position to make it through to the semi-finals.
Barcelona played out a goalless draw at AC Milan’s San Siro, as Bayern won 2-0 at French Ligue One side Marseille.
Strong
Bayern were too strong for Didier Deschamps out of form side and could really have taken home a far more comfortable lead back to Bavaria. With the second leg at the Allianz Arena Marseille are as good as out of the competition.
Bayern are strong at home, especially in the Champions League and it’s difficult to see the French side managing to score three goals in Germany without reply. Bayern offer a big attacking threat in the form of German international Mario Gomez and Dutch winger Arjen Robben.
Both players got on the score sheet at the Stade Velodrome, to put Bayern in control of the tie and they are also likely to represent the biggest threat in the second leg.
Chance
Marseille boss Didier Deschamps believes there is still a chance of the French side progressing into the semi-finals. He told Sky Sports: “There’s still a chance we can go through, but it’s a tiny one. We’re not in the best position and we know Bayern are very strong at home. Players of that quality always punish you.
“I think that until the first goal, we’d done things pretty well. Then we let in the goal, and it hurt us. It was just before half-time. Given what we’d done up to that point, it was hard to go in 1-0 down at half-time.”
Complacency
Bayern have to avoid complacency in the second leg but I believe that they will cruise through into the semi-finals and will probably also win the second leg. Bayern are a far better team than Marseille and will reaffirm that fact at the Allianz Arena.
Goalless
The first leg of the quarter-final involving AC Milan and Barcelona finished goalless at the San Siro. Barcelona as expected had more of the ball but had an off night in front of goal. The experienced Milan side did well to pressure the Barca players when they had the ball.
The high-pressure game worked well but Milan were at home and Barcelona will definitely be more satisfied with the result considering the second leg is at the Nou Camp. Barcelona at the Nou Camp are an even more difficult proposition.
Advantage
Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola will be the happier of the two bosses but won’t be completely satisfied with the performance of his side at the San Siro. The team had a rare off day and I’m sure the team will be back to their brilliant best at the weekend.
A 0-0 draw in Italy still means that Barcelona are in an advantageous position. It means that Milan will have to score at the Nou Camp if they are to progress into the next round. That will allow more space for Barca to hit them on the counter-attack.
Milan had early chances at the San Siro and missed them. When your playing against Barcelona you have to take your chances or you can get punished up the other end, Barcelona couldn’t do that at the San Siro. However I have very little doubt that Barca will take their chances at the Nou Camp and progress into the semi-finals.
Big
A semi-final line-up of Chelsea vs. Barcelona and Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid looks possible and those would be two major ties. There is plenty of football left to be played but I just can’t see Barcelona or Bayern slipping up.
Who will go through from the Barcelona-AC Milan quarter-final?
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