Champions League Draw Offers Barcelona Opportunity to Exact Bayern Revenge

Barcelona will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals. Again.

It's the tie of the competition so far, and you can bet the Catalans will be gunning for revenge after a 7-0 drubbing in 2013.

Pep Guardiola will relish the opportunity to return to the club of his life and prove that—even against a Barca squad that includes Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar—he is the best coach of his generation.

Luis Enrique will be equally keen to bury the ghost of Guardiola, which seems to hang around Camp Nou like a bad smell.

Any fans of the German club who are cock-a-hoop at drawing the Catalans might want to cast a beady eye over the highlights of Barca's games since the turn of the year.

Besides substandard performances against Real Sociedad and Malaga, Barca have been in a league of their own. 

No matter the opposition, Enrique has Barca playing as well as they've played since Guardiola left in 2012.

The fact that the second leg will take place at the Allianz Arena offers the Germans a slight advantage, but if Barcelona can produce the goods at Camp Nou, they have the staff in place to get a result in Bavaria.

Gerard Pique was at fault for a number of goals in the 2013 set of matches. His statuesque performance was a major reason Bayern were able to plunder four goals in the first leg.

Fast-forward to the present day, and Pique has been one of Barca's best players this season. Enrique's man-management skills have evidently brought the best out of the player again.

Furthermore, the Catalans are much tighter as a defensive unit this season. With just 19 goals conceded in La Liga and eight in the Champions League, this is Barca's best return at this stage of the season for some while.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

Bayern may have conceded only 13 goals domestically, but the standard of opposition they face week in and week out isn't at the same level as Barca's La Liga opponents, with the greatest of respect.

Fifteen points separate Barcelona and Sevilla, who are fifth in La Liga and doing well in the Europa League. That there is a 31-point difference between Bayern at the top of the Bundesliga and Schalke in fifth tells you everything.

Porto in the Champions League quarter-final first leg and Wolfsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach domestically have shown that if you put pressure on this Bayern team, for all of their wonderful attacking play, they are vulnerable in defence. Real Madrid in last season's semi is another fine example.

The Germans won't have played against a strike force with anywhere near the prowess, flexibility and capabilities of Barca's front line.

Pep was in attendance when Messi embarrassed James Milner in an earlier round of the competition, but he will be acutely aware that if too much emphasis is placed on dissolving the Argentine's influence, Barcelona have genuine match-winning options in Neymar and Suarez. And both will be to the fore if required.

There are many other tantalising individual battles across the pitch that will affect the outcome, and it's safe to say these teams are well-matched in every department.

But that's something Bayern aren't used to and don't cope well with, and it will eventually tip the balance over 180 minutes.