Bayern Munich v Barcelona: Champions League semi-final webchat
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Version 0 of 1. 1.49pm BST13:49 Barney has signed off. Enjoy the match. Here are a few goals for your entertainment... Related: The best goals of the week: Memphis Depay, Leo Messi and Jermaine Beckford Including this preposterous overhead kick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHR2rT1VebU 1.46pm BST13:46 OccamsEauDeToilette asks: Hi Barney. If Bayern do fail to progress to the finals, which seems very likely, will this season be seen as a failure bearing in mind they also lost out in the DFB cup semi-final to Dortmund recently as well? I think so. Ludicrous as it sounds the only real measure of success for these regional powerhouse mega-clubs is winning in Europe. Bayern have dominated theri domestic league to such a degree they have effectively depleted the merits of actually winning it. I'm not sure what can be done about this. Proper European super-league anyone? No? 1.42pm BST13:42 Chingu asks: Barney, do you think everyone cares too much about managers? There are so many questions on here which relate to them. Is this justified by the importance of their role or over-the-top in relation to other important factors? I think you're right, often we do go on about managers too much, in part because there is so little access to players and in part because of the way television has worked on football, promoting this bloke in a suit at the corner of the screen whirling around in his chalk rectangle into some incredibly vital part of the action. On the other hand at this level tactics, a game plan, the fine margins of who does what at precisely which moment do make a big difference. 1.42pm BST13:42 Sameoldcabbage asks: How imposing is the Allianz Arena as a stadium and is there any chance that, given an early Bayern goal, you could suddenly start using the words rabbit and headlights in the context of Barcelona defenders? I think it's a really great stadium. I know a lot of people disagree, and it is a bit out of the way and a bit modern. Also the atmosphere is diluted on Champions League nights because fewer of the regualrs come for reasons - i'm told - to do with ticketing and prices. But it is still a pretty stirring place. It can be very loud. and you can tell the players love playing there. The celebrations at the end of the Porto game, with Muller doing his bit with a megaphone were totally genuine. On the other hand I can;'t really see Messi being too worried about a bit of noise. His greta skill is that in every stadium, at every moment in every game he still seems to be playing the same game he started off about 20 years ago in some playground or other in Rosario. 1.29pm BST13:29 jhopgood asks: Why have Bayern failed to score recently and will this change tonight? I realise Robben etc are out but this would make them a one/two man band, which is unusual for a German team. Good point. Missing those wide men is quite a big deal. Not just because Robben, Ribery and Alaba are three of Bayern's best players. But also because having strength wide is so key to the Guardiola way. I suspect it would be closer. But Bayern would have to really turn it on to outscore this Barcelona team. I'd put it 70-30 Barca's way. But of course, we will never know. Don't forget also Barcelona have no injuries at all, which is freakishly good luck. Take Messi or Suarez out of the team and it's a lot more even. 1.25pm BST13:25 Conlaroja asks: Barney, remember when you said Ronaldo had no rival? I believe that was just before he won the Ballon D'Or a couple of weeks later by a large margin. Thereby proving he did indeed have no close rivals. Not sure what your point is 1.19pm BST13:19 Jamety69 asks: Hey Barney. Given that the Barça v Madrid final is still on, do you think it would be a quite a cagey bitty affair or an open spectacle where Madrid would look for revenge for losing La Liga? It's hard to call isn't it. I suspect there would be a lot of rolling around on the grass, people waving imaginary cards, some sneaky stuff, plenty of gesticulating. At some stage Sergio Ramos will tweak someone's nipple, then look outraged for no obvious reason. On the other hand that three-man Barca attack is just irrepressible right now. Feels a bit like it's Messi's destiny this year to do something special. I would be totally unsurprised if that happened in Berlin. 1.17pm BST13:17 MidderP asks: Can you see Barça running riot tonight like Madrid did in the Allianz this stage last year? Bayern’s need to get goals could be their weakness tonight, and as Pep said - Barça are now the best side in the world on the counterattack. It is fascinating isn't it? I'd love Pep to just say, hang it all, I'm going to stick to my attacking toe-to-toe principles and go for this, whether it's 3-5 or 1-1 makes no difference. I find i like him a lot more every time he fails, so long as he fails while still trying to be Pep, like with the slightly loopy 3-man backline, and the fialure to sit on the game at 0-0 at the Nou Camp. He's great as an idealist. We don't need another sensible manager. 1.16pm BST13:16 OzMogwai asks: Hi Barney (if that is your real name), realistically, what are the chances of Pep Guardiola joining Manchester City next season? And if he does, will his rivalry with Mourinho make the Premier League interesting again? Says someone going by the name "OzMogwai". Like the man said, he's said 200 million times he's staying. I suppose the 2,000,001st time he could change it to "I'm going". I actually wouldn't rule anything out. Right now he's not going anywhere, but people at his level in football talk to other parties on and off, make continegency plans, keep options open. It's a precarious business. Youd be crazy not to. Oddly enough part of me doe suspect a heavy defeat tonight (a third in two years versus the really big teams) might make a difference to all this. If he does go to City the interesting thing for me will be what he does with the team and his own ideas about how to play. Not the soap opera stuff 1.10pm BST13:10 Homewrecker asks: Would you consider Juventus to be underdogs going into the second leg with a 2-1 lead? Yes, but only because of Real Madrid's extremes of individual talent. I said before the semis I thought Madrid were the weakest of the four. I still think they are in many of the standard ways of judging a football team. Juventus are great: they know exactly ehat they're doing and they know exactly where their strengths are. With Mardid right now it's all a little clanky and unbalanced. But such is the absurdity of talent available they could still win 4-1 quite easily. A personal preference would be for a Juve win. I'd like to see a bit of genuine team-building rewarded, rather than the ability to hurl money at star names. 1.05pm BST13:05 Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to webchat with you again. Sorry. What I'm tyring to suggest i guess is that it's a bit silent out there. You normally get loads of questions on these. But for some reason this one looks a little slim. Which is a bit unfair. As semi-dead rubbers go, this could be a fascinating night for many reasons. 12.36pm BST12:36 Barney will be online from 1pm BST for a chat In the meantime, here are this week’s Champions League fixtures and some of our match previews: TuesdayBayern Munich v Barcelona (0-3 first leg) Wednesday Real Madrid v Juventus (1-2 first leg) Drop your questions into the comments box below. Thanks Related: Pep Guardiola in no man’s land with Barcelona ready to pull trigger Related: Barcelona’s mighty Lionel Messi ready for encore against Bayern Munich | Paul Wilson Updated at 12.54pm BST |