Champions League – Edging towards a wonderful climax

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. These will be the teams competing in this year’s Champions League semi-final. The last-four ties are a pair of German-Spanish ties, with a potential classic final at Wembley. Irrespective of who the finalists are, it is an absolutely mouth-watering scenario for fans of these teams as well as neutrals around the world.

This season’s European competition is possibly one of the best in a long time. The tight contests in the quarter-finals (barring Bayern steam-rolling Juventus) and the adrenalin-inducing semi-final line-up are an improvement over last season’s mundane attempts by Chelsea and their bus-parking strategy. Although Dortmund are 20 points behind German champions Bayern, and similarly Real Madrid are lying 13 points behind Barcelona in La Liga, these four are the best teams in terms of form, quality of players and playing styles at the moment (Manchester United and Juventus fans must feel aggrieved by this, but hey, that’s the truth and I’m sure you guys agree!).

One other key observation here is that these four teams together contribute 17 players to the Spanish squad and 16 players to the German squad, taking into consideration their squads in their recent internationals. Barring the odd pairing of Javi Martinez (Bayern player representing Spain), and Ozil and Khedira (Real Madrid players representing Germany), it is a direct showdown between the Spanish and German sides with their nationals. With both countries early favourites for next year’s World Cup, the semi-finals could be an acid test to assess which of the sides could emerge stronger.

Two Bundesliga teams, with a host of native talent playing in the semi-finals, could do a whole world of good to the German national team. The Nationalmannschaft, who have built themselves a reputation for choking in the final stages of major tournaments, could benefit from their players gaining valuable big-stage experience in the form of the semi-final matches.

Bayern and Barcelona have the motivation of going for the big double of the domestic league title and the big European title. On the other hand, the European crown would be the only saving grace for Dortmund and Real Madrid. That would add a fire in the belly of all the four teams in their efforts to claim the coveted European trophy. With all the teams in the last four playing attacking football (unless Mourinho resorts to his win-at-all-costs tactic and springs a surprise), we can all sit back and enjoy some mind-blowing football. Bliss!