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Barcelona v Bayern: reaction and what to expect

Josep Guardiola looks forward to facing his old team while Luis Enrique predicts a "special game". UEFA.com digs up reaction, analysis and facts surrounding the semi-final.

Josep Guardiola with the trophy he won with Barcelona in 2011
Josep Guardiola with the trophy he won with Barcelona in 2011 ©Getty Images

Draw reaction
Luis Enrique, Barcelona coach

It is a special game because Pep [Guardiola] is there, [it's also special] for me and the players. It's a great date for all Barça fans. We will go with the objective of winning both the home and away legs. The process is the same. But football is random and there's always lots of surprises.

Josep Guardiola, Bayern coach
You always face big sides in the semi-finals of a competition. Last year we played Real Madrid, this year it is Barcelona. I have a lot of respect for them. I am glad I will have the chance to face them during my career, but at the end of the day it is two games of football.

Philipp Lahm, Bayern captain
It is going to be tricky but thankfully we are at home in the second leg, which could be an advantage. Both sides like to play good football. Barcelona are in good form at the moment. We have a 50-50 chance of progressing.

Barcelona hope to prolong 'sweet time'

Thiago Alcántara, Bayern midfielder 
It was always going to be tricky for us. It will be an honour to play in the Camp Nou again. We'll do all we can to progress to the final in Berlin and fight for the title.

Manuel Neuer, Bayern goalkeeper
Clearly we were going to be given a difficult task. There are no easy games once you reach the semi-finals. We beat Barcelona convincingly in both legs of the semi-final in 2013, but that doesn't mean much any more. Things have changed at both clubs. We're going to need to put in two great performances if we want to reach the final.

Reporters' view
 Andy James, Bayern
Bayern rattled seven past the team considered the greatest in the world en route to their fifth European crown in 2013. But Barça have done plenty of research and development in the meantime and once again look the real deal in this term's UEFA Champions League. Bayern may be hoping Guardiola knows how best to hurt his former love but only the result will tell.

Breitner expects tight Bayern-Barcelona clash

• Graham Hunter, Barcelona
Where to begin? Just two short years ago the Bavarians inflicted the ultimate pain on the Blaugrana, winning 7-0 on aggregate in their UEFA Champions League semi-final and causing shock waves around the football world. Now former Camp Nou guru Guardiola is at the Bayern helm and his return to that stadium will cause both anxiety and pride in the fans who adored him.

Facts and figures
• Guardiola won 14 trophies in four years as Barcelona coach, including the UEFA Champions League in 2009 and 2011. He added the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cups the same years, three successive Liga titles between 2009 and 2011, the Copa del Rey in 2009 and 2012 and the Spanish Super Cup in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Guardiola won it with Barça in 2011
Guardiola won it with Barça in 2011©Getty Images

• Guardiola also claimed six league championships as a Barça player and was part of the team that lifted the club's first European Cup in 1992. He featured, too, in the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final triumph – when his team-mates included current Blaugrana boss Luis Enrique – and the 1992 UEFA Super Cup success.

• Thiago scored seven goals in 68 Liga appearances for Barcelona between 2009 and 2013, when he signed for Bayern for a reported €25m.

• Barcelona and Bayern have met in eight previous European ties, all from 1996, when Bayern won 4-3 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup semi-finals and went on to collect the trophy.

• Their most recent encounter came in the 2012/13 semi-finals, when Bayern prevailed 4-0 in Munich – Thomas Müller notching twice and Arjen Robben once – and 3-0 at the Camp Nou, Arjen Robben and Müller again scoring either side of a Gerard Piqué own goal. That 7-0 success was the biggest aggregate victory in a UEFA Champions League semi.

• Bayern have won on three of their four visits to Barcelona, posting a 2-1 victory in the 1998/99 group stage. However, their other trip ended in their joint-heaviest UEFA Champions League defeat, a 4-0 loss in the 2008/09 quarter-final first leg; Barça went through 5-1 on aggregate and proceeded to pick up the trophy.

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