Porto and Bayern
Munich measuring forces in the quarter-finals of the Champions League marked by
the heavy casualties the German side; absences are encouraging for the
Portuguese to cause an upset. The
team coached by 'Pep' Guardiola is the clear favorite, a condition that should
be confirmed in the field against the 'dragons' directed by fellow Julen
Lopetegui, the only ones who have not lost a single match in this season's
League Champions
who rely on the support of his fans to get ahead in the tie.
The
mourning on Wednesday placed facing two football teams notion similarly,
reflects two technicians from the same school: possession, control and touch
are the main hallmarks. However,
the goal posts are there to make it happen each is very different. Given
the seniority in these conflicts of the German workforce highlights the lack of
experience at the highest level of the Portuguese, whose "once type"
is very young and the average is less than 25 years.
Bayern
reaches the leg against Porto in the middle of a run of injuries that led to
coach Pep 'Guardiola, experimenting with system changes that have so far
succeeded as far as results are concerned. Front,
left Arjen Robben with a torn abdominal and Franck Ribéry with a bruised ankle.
In
the midfield are low Javi Martínez, recovering after a long knee injury, David
Alaba, who will be absent for several weeks, and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who
remained in Munich with a virus. The
casualty list is completed by the central Mehdi Benatia and the third
goalkeeper Tom Starke.
A
glimmer of hope in the midst of the doctor’s parts was the return of Thiago
Alcantara, who returned to hold on Saturday in a 3-0 win against Eintracht
Frankfurt, when he played the first seventy minutes. The
return of Thiago allowed Guardiola resort to a 4-4-2, with a diamond in
midfield after the previous matches against Borusia Dortmund in the Bundesliga
and against Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup ,
opted for a surprisingly defensive scheme to avoid kickback. If
the games against Dortmund and Bundesliga led some to suggest that Guardiola
had discovered the virtues of "catenaccio" because at times he played
with a five-man defense, the match against Eintracht made should return to see
the iconic virtues Bayern.
In
any case, Bayern have made it through those three games without conceding a
single goal and Thiago entry can better exploit the conditions offensive players
like Mario Götze, Thomas Müller and, above all, Robert Lewandowski.
Hopefully
Wednesday Guardiola plays with a line of four men in which Rafinha and Juan
Bernat are fixed as side. Jerome
Boateng, which was low against Eintracht by lesión- is recovered and hopefully
that holds together the Brazilian Dante.
