Posted on 03-25-2009 under Previews

Today begins the beginning of Dreamsofmytiger’s multi-day Barcelona-Bayern Munich behemoth coverage. The Dutch tried total football, and the Tigerblog will attempt total coverage. To get it started, today’s entry will be about the epic storylines surrounding this fixture. Tomorrow, goalkeepers.


Ribéry and Messi on the SAME FLIPPIN’ FIELD! OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod! Two of of the brightest stars of world football will be on the same pitch, leading the two highest scoring C-League clubs into epic confrontation with one another. Both are extremely positive players who will be looking upfield often. Look out for Franck’s thrilling whirls and cutting crosses and Leo’s incredible dribbling around defenders and one-touch brilliance. Also look for the mighty defenders on both sides to make some “assertive” challenges on these players throughout the fixture. These two could make these games an absolute feast.


Ribéry’s Present and Future! Munich’s star man/flea Franck Ribéry has been linked with a move to the Catalan giants this summer. Franck will be up for this game to show his value to Barcelona and perhaps help command a large salary when negotiations get rolling. On the other hand, he’s never played in this important of a game (for club, at least) so given the high stakes, he may start out a little rattled, particularly in the bright lights of the Nou Camp in game one. Once he gets his flea legs though, it should be great to watch. In any event, these matches could light the fires of transfer rumors that we’re sure to get sick of in the coming months.


Two First-Year Managers! Both Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klinsmann are solid coaches (and former players at their respective clubs), but they will definitely be facing unprecedented challenges in this tie. For Pep, his Barca bunch have been playing well all year but have seen their indelible form become a bit, well, delible. It seems the grueling campaigns for league, Copa del Rey, and C-League glory have taken their toll on this Barca squad, which for all of its breathtaking talent is not very deep. Guardiola has seemingly pushed the right buttons all year, and he’ll need to be keen in doing so for this tie given the fatigue that seems to be settling in among his players. For Klinsy, his tactics have been under the fans’ microscope all year and it doesn’t seem like his team has fully jelled. His team has not been as dominant as Barca this year (who has?), and while it can be tough to predict how Bayern will perform week to week, it’s mostly safe to say that they are up for big games, and this tie should be no exception. Tactics may figure more prominently in this tie because the two teams aren’t as familiar with each other, but we’ll talk more about this next week.


Miro Klose is Injured! Bayern and Germany start striker Miroslav Klose will be out with an ankle injury he sustained at the beginning of March. While replacement/2006 Paris Hilton love interest Lukas Podolski plays well in non-league matches, this is a serious blow to Bayern.


Mark Van Bommel Returns to His Old Club! Munich midfielder and skipper Mark Van Bommel will return to his old stomping grounds. While one might expect Mark to contain his chippy play against his old buddies, it’s Mark Van Bommel for fuck’s sake so look for him to get at least one card (perhaps more) over the two games for either dissent or elbowing Iniesta or holding Xavi or perhaps doing all three of these things at the same time. Also, while one might think that MVB’s intimate knowledge of Barca might help Bayern, knowing Xavi and his viper-like tendencies is not the same thing as stopping him. But it can’t hurt.


Which Goalkeeper Shits the Bed?! Both GKs have had sporadic years, and it very well could be that a critical error decides this tie. But from the Tigerblog’s view, it’s about equally likely to happen to both, so this is not a prediction we want to make. Plus wouldn’t that be a horrible way to decide this? Speaking of GKs, tomorrow the Tigerblog will provide rundown on the goalkeeping matchup.


Barcelona has never defeated Bayern! This is big, folks. They’ve met twice before in Europe, first in the 1996 UEFA cup tourney with Bayern taking it 4-3 on aggregate and second 1998 in the group stages of the C-League with Bayern defeating Barca both times. Will this be the turnaround for Barca, or will it be a case where the past will be prologue and München will rule again? We shall see.


Get back tomorrow for goalkeeper coverage.