Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich preview, Champions League 2015: Barca hope to beat Pep

This battle of European titans sees German juggernaut Bayern Munich visit the Camp Nou to face off with Barcelona, as Pep Guardiola wants to end this season’s successful run for his old side, while Luis Enrique wants to show him that Barca have moved on. There’s also the factor of Barcelona wanting to get a little bit of revenge, after losing 7-0 on aggregate to Bayern at this stage two years ago.

These are arguably the two best sides in Europe right now, with incredible amounts of quality through both rosters and with both squads capable of playing scintillating football. The tactical chess on the pitch is going to be immensely fun to watch play out, especially with all the history there is between managers, clubs, and players alike. This match means so much in terms of the competition and individual battles that these teams are going to leave everything out there on the pitch, and this could wind up being some of the best football we’ll have seen for quite some time.

Barcelona are in near-perfect health, with only Jeremy Mathieu and his sore Achilles’ tendon missing out. It’s a different story for Bayern, where each of Holger Badstuber, David Alaba, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Sebastian Rode, and Tom Starke are out with various injuries. Then there’s Robert Lewandowski, who Bayern say will play despite the concussion and facial injuries he suffered against Borussia Dortmund recently, but who knows just how ready or effective he’s going to be.

Barcelona’s memory of Pep vs. Pep - Nobody knows Pep Guardiola and his tactics better than the core of Barcelona players that he lead to so much success. It’s going to be a tough task for him to come up with tactical plans that will catch Barcelona off guard, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try. The Champions League has been full of some interesting tactical battles this season, but this tie may prove to be the most fascinating by far.

The midfield battle - On that note, the battle for midfield supremacy should be a lot of fun. Barcelona’s uber-talented midfield trio against Bayern’s unorthodox-but-effective group in the middle of the pitch will be a true test of wills, seeing which dynamic group can out-do the other. Barcelona’s midfield looks better on paper, but this matchup could easily go either way.

Robert Lewandowski vs. pain - The Polish striker is key to a lot of what Bayern do up front, especially with his aerial skill and Barca’s weakness there, but he’s coming off a brutal facial injury and a concussion that he suffered just over a week ago. We just don’t know how he’s going to handle the inevitable pain that’s going to come with every contact of the ball or other players to his head and masked face -- if it becomes too much, he might have to come out of the match much earlier than Guardiola was hoping for.

These two teams look very evenly matched, but something has got to give. With the home field advantage in hand, that “give” will probably be in Barcelona’s favor, so this feels like it will be a 2-1 win for Barcelona.