Former Barcelona
coach Pep Guardiola
makes his return to the
Camp Nou with Bayern
Munich on Wednesday
targeting a repeat of
the sides' Champions League semi-final of
2013.
The Bavarians cruised to a dominant 7-0
aggregate success two years ago under
Guardiola's predecessor, Jupp Heynckes,
before going on to complete a famous
treble.
For Guardiola, Bayern can only lift two titles
this term and to do so they will need to
arrest stuttering form against a Barca side
full of confidence.
While Guardiola's men were dumped out of
the DFB-Pokal semi-finals by Borussia
Dortmund before losing 2-0 to Bayer
Leverkusen, Barca put eight past Cordoba to
keep their treble hopes on course.
Javi Martinez made his long-awaited return
from a knee injury at the BayArena and is
focused on helping shackle Barca's free-
scoring front trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar
and Luis Suarez.
"The knee is good. Leverkusen was a good
test for me and now I'm ready to help my
team in the next game," he told reporters
ahead of Wednesday's first leg.
"Whether I play or not depends on the
coach. Stopping Messi, Neymar and Suarez
will be very difficult.
"But we are not afraid. If we want to win,
we can't allow ourselves to be afraid. We
have a big heart and we have a big goal."
Robert Lewandowski is set to feature with a
mask after sustaining multiple injuries
against former club Dortmund although
Franck Ribery (ankle) remains doubtful.
Guardiola's former Barca team-mate Luis
Enrique has one worry - having seen Jordi
Aba train alone on Monday - as he seeks to
ensure the four-time winners reach their
eighth final.
The pair both coached at Barca B after their
playing careers ended with Luis Enrique
making a strong start in his bid to emulate
Guardiola's 14-trophy at the Camp Nou helm.
Victory on Tuesday would set Barca on
course for their first Champions League final
appearance since 2011 and the Liga leaders
could hardly be in better form.
Winning 15 of their last 16 games in all
competitions and with Messi taking his tally
for the season to 40 at the weekend, Barca
president Josep Maria Bartomeu played
down the importance Guardiola's return.
"There's no favourite. It's an open tie
against a great team that has a coach who
knows us very well," Bartomeu told Hat Trick
Barca.
"It is necessary to honour Pep and I believe
it has to be spontaneous. We won't
organise anything. There'll be no video or
anything.
"He comes with all the honours but also to
win. After the game we can salute him.
"I believe the relationship between
Guardiola and the board ended well. The
doors of Barca are open when he wants to
come back. I think he will one day."http://m.goal.com/x/en-ng/news/11427382

3-1 in favour of barcelona.