Suarez scored his first hat-trick
for the club as Luis Enrique’s team maintained their two-point lead ahead of
Real Madrid with three games to play thanks to an 8-0 demolition of Cordoba at
the weekend. That victory extended Barca’s unbeaten streak to 16 games and they
have won 26 of their last 28 matches in all competitions.
Bayern already have a 25th
Bundesliga title wrapped up, but Guardiola’s side have been rocked by injuries
in recent weeks.
An under-strength Bayern side were
beaten for just the third time this season on league duty 2-0 by Bayer
Leverkusen on Saturday, but have now lost four of their last 10 in all
competitions after being knocked out of the German Cup on penalties by Borussia
Dortmund last week and losing 3-1 at Porto in the first-leg of their
quarter-final.
Striker Robert Lewandowski should be
fit to play with a protective face mask despite breaking a cheekbone against
his old club Dortmund, but Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, David Alaba and Holger
Badstuber all miss out through injury.
Coaches:
Barcelona – Luis Enrique Martinez
Garcia (ESP) — 44 yrs
Bayern Munich – Pep Guardiola (ESP)
– 44 yrs
Leading scorers in all competitions:
Barcelona – Lionel Messi (51 goals)
Bayern Munich – Robert Lewandowski
(23 goals)
Domestic league performance:
Barcelona – Top of La Liga, two
points ahead of Real Madrid and an insurmountable 11 clear of defending
champions Atletico Madrid in third.
Bayern Munich – Champions of Germany
for a third consecutive year, they lead Wolfsburg by 14 points with three games
remaining.
Road to semi-finals
Barcelona – Winners of Group F ahead
of PSG. Beat Manchester City 3-1 on aggregate in the last 16 and eased past PSG
once more 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.
Bayern Munich – Winners of Group E
ahead of Manchester City. Beat Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 in Munich in the last 16,
second leg clash after a goalless draw in Ukraine and needed an even more
remarkable performance at home in the quarter-finals by thrashing Porto 6-1
having lost 3-1 in Portugal a week previously.
European Cup/Champions League best
performances:
Barcelona – winners 1992, 2006,
2009, 2011
Bayern Munich – winners 1974, 1975,
1976, 2001, 2013
Other honours:
Barcelona – 22 x Spanish champions,
26 x Copa del Rey winners, 4 x Cup Winners’ Cup winners, 3 x Inter-Cities Fairs
Cup winners, 4 x UEFA Super Cup winners, 2 x Club World Cup winners
Bayern Munich – 25 x German
champions, 17 x German Cup winners, 1 x UEFA Cup winners, 1 x UEFA Super Cup
winners, 1 x Club World Cup winners, 2 x Intercontinental Cup winners
Previous European Cup/Champions
League meetings:
Bayern Munich 1 Barcelona 0 –
1998/99 Champions League group stage
Barcelona 1 Bayern Munich 2 – 1998/99
Champions League group stage
Barcelona 4 Bayern Munich 0 –
2008/09 Champions League quarter-final, first-leg
Bayern Munich 1 Barcelona 1
– 2008/09 Champions League quarter-final, second-leg
Bayern Munich 4 Barcelona 0 –
2011/12 Champions League semi-final, first-leg
Barcelona 0 Bayern Munich 3 –
2011/12 Champions League semi-final, second-leg
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