Can Barcelona complete the ultimate comeback in the Champions League?

Barcelona fans will be hoping that Lionel Messi can inspire a Champions League semi-final comeback this evening

Barcelona has become accustomed to breaking records and creating history in recent years.

Tito Vilanova’s charges will have to make history again this evening if they are to progress to the Champions League final.

History

Barcelona head into the second leg of their Champions League tie with German champions Bayern Munich 4-0 down from the first game at the Allianz Arena.

No club has ever recovered from such a deficit in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Complete

Barcelona has a very difficult task on their hands to make it to the final. Bayern Munich currently looks like the most complete team in European football.

The Bavarian giants made Barcelona look like a very ordinary team in the first leg. The German champions were simply better in every area of the pitch and deserved their handsome victory.

Messi

If Barcelona does make it to the final of the Champions League then no doubt Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi will have had a big hand in their victory. Messi clearly was not fully-fit in the first leg and the team suffered for it.

The Catalan side have become one of the most lauded in the history of club football and quite rightly at times. However, they are not the same team without the outstanding Argentinian international. The likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta do not look as good without the inspirational figure of Messi.

The proof was in the pudding when the Catalan giants struggled to make a breakthrough in the quarter-final against French club PSG, until the introduction of a half-fit Messi inspired Barca to score the goal they needed to progress.

Any team in the world would miss a player of the quality of Lionel Messi and Barcelona fans will be hoping that the Argentinian will be fully match fit for the vital clash.

Strong

Bayern Munich has proved to be a very strong team this season in every competition, not just the Champions League. The Bavarians have already clinched the Bundesliga title this season and look strong favourites to make it into the final.

This year’s Bayern team is rated by many as the best in a good while and their fans are hopeful of a first Champions League triumph since 2001. However, first Bayern need to finish Barcelona off at the Nou Camp.

Write-off

Most teams in European football would be written-off facing a 4-0 first leg deficit. Barcelona though is a completely different proposition. They are a special team when on form and people really should not write them-off.

Bayern do head into the clash as favourites to make it into the final, but an early goal for Barcelona at the Nou Camp could make it a very difficult evening for the German visitors. The deciding factor in this tie could be the fact that Barcelona failed to score an away goal at the Allianz Arena.

Unlikely

I think that Barcelona will beat Bayern on their home soil, but even for the Catalans this task will probably prove too much. Bayern have been superb this season in the Champions League and will be deserved finalists.

Close

Dortmund survived a scare against Real Madrid in the other Champions League semi-final second leg last night, losing 2-0 at the Bernabeu, but progressing 4-3 on aggregate. Late goals from substitute Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos gave the former-German champions a scare.

Despite the late goals and six minutes stoppage-time the young Dortmund team held on and could now face bitter-rivals Bayern in an all-German Champions League final. It is the perfect chance for revenge for Jurgen Klopp’s side, after Bayern wrestled their Bundesliga crown away from them.

Both teams deserve to be in the Champions League final and barring a miracle from Barcelona, Wembley will be preparing for a festival of German football later this month.

Can Barcelona complete the ultimate comeback in the Champions League?