Guardiola Draws Former Club in UCL Semifinal

 

Josep Guardiola has a date with his former club, Barcelona in the last four of the UEFA Champions League. Guardiola who last won the competition with Barcelona before proceeding on a one year sabbatical leave will seek to repeat the same fit with Bayern Munich but must scale the hurdle of his former employer.

 The last time both teams met in the champions league was in 2013, Guardiola had resigned from Barcelona and was on a one year sabbatical from which he would return to manage Bayern Munich when the German giants put in two stunning performances to defeat Messi and Co. 7-0 nil on aggregate. Bayern Munich would go on to win the champions league that season.

 In the other semifinal clash, Real Madrid were paired with Italian giants Juventus as they look to successfully defend the champions league. The last time both teams did battle was in a second round clash in 2003 and just like they are doing this season Real Madrid went into the tie defending champions but a 3-1 loss in Turin condemned Real To a 4-2 aggregate loss, knocking the star-studded side out of the competition.

This year’s semifinal clash obviously represents the very best teams in Europe with some of the best players in the world and both clashes promise to be epic showdowns. In 2003, Juventus and AC Milan clashed in an all-Italian final, in 2008, it was all about Manchester United and Chelsea in the all-English final and 2013 served up an all-German final with Bayern Munich triumphing over Borussia Dortmund. This season, we have a possibility of seeing an all-Spanish final: the El Grand Classico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.