Guardiola makes his homecoming

FC Barcelona and FC Bayern München will duke it out in tonight’s UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg clash. The Camp Nou prepares itself for the return of Thiago Alcántara to his former stomping ground but in particular for the homecoming of Josep Guardiola. The German outfit’s manager, who among other titles won the Champions League twice and the Liga BBVA three times, takes to the Catalan stadium once again, only this time he will be orchestrating things from the opposing team’s dugout.

The two clubs have crossed paths three times in the knockout stage of a European competition. On two of those occasions, Bayern progressed to the next round, while the only time Barcelona managed to send the Germans out over two legs was with Guardiola at the helm, at the quarter-final stage of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League campaign. The Catalans went on to lift the title that season.

Those results aside, Barcelona’s overall record against German teams is extremely favourable. In the Camp Nou los azulgranas have won 19, lost 7 and drawn 1 against Bundesliga opposition. In two-legged ties against German sides, Barcelona have made it to the next round in 13 of the last 18 times of asking.

Barcelona have looked unbeatable in the Camp Nou so far this season in the UEFA Champions League, having already won all five of their home games. The Catalan club’s pedigree in the competition must also be taken into account, with this season being the seventh in which they have managed to reach the semi-final stage in the last eight years.

Barcelona and Bayern Munich have shown themselves to be two of the better sides during this season’s edition of the UEFA Champions League. Evidence of this lies in the fact that they are the two teams that boast the best goal difference: 22 for Bayern and 16 for Barca. As well as that, together they are the two sides with the highest number of completed passes: the Catalans have racked up 6302, while the Germans have notched up 6230.