Champions League 2014/15: Winners and Losers from Nyon Draw
The Champions League semi-final draw took place in Nyon on Friday, with two brilliant ties emerging from UEFA headquarters.
In what is likely to be one of the most talked-about semi-finals in many years, Pep Guardiola will return to Barcelona for the first time with his current side Bayern Munich, while in the other tie, Real Madrid's prodigious attacking unit will hope to overcome the competition's best defence, Juventus, in an intriguing matchup of contrasting styles.
With three league leaders (and the reigning champions) left in the competition, we are virtually guaranteed four high-quality matches as the remaining participants battle to reach the final in Berlin.
Click on for some winners and losers from Friday's draw.
Champions League semi-final draw
Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich
Juventus vs. Real Madrid
Ties to be played May 5/6 and May 12/13.
Winners: Real Madrid
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The message in the Spanish press before the draw was clear: Everybody wanted Juventus. That might be slightly disrespectful toward the Italian champions (more on that later) but it remained broadly true, and it was Real Madrid who ultimately ended up snagging the least daunting of the three potential opponents.
After a draining, often frustrating quarter-final against Atletico Madrid, the competition holders were surely relieved to avoid another rivalry tie against Barcelona, while the prospect of facing Bayern Munich again (even after last season's runaway victory at the same stage) probably did not appeal to Carlo Ancelotti much.
Juventus have their qualities, but Real Madrid know them reasonably well, having played them in the group stages of last season's competition, and will be confident that this tie will suit their particular playing style.
In the knockout stages, the Italian side have set out to defend, and they will surely look to frustrate Real in the same way. But that is exactly the sort of challenge Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mates face week in and week out in La Liga; if anything, the world's most expensively assembled strike force will be eager to prove its worth against the best defence in the competition.
Last season, Real were drawn against Bayern Munich at this stage, and they negotiated that seemingly tough test with ease. They will be confident of repeating that outcome.
"Last year, in theory, we had the hardest draw, and yet it turned out to be a straightforward tie against Bayern," Real director Emilio Butragueno noted, per UEFA's official website. "We will play a great opponent, who defends well and is prepared tactically to give their all."
Losers: Barcelona
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They knew it was going to have to happen at some point, but that does not mean Barcelona will be elated to have seen themselves picked to face Bayern Munich. Nobody knows their approach better than Bayern manager Pep Guardiola—and Bayern already had the psychological advantage to begin with.
The last time the two sides met, in the semi-finals of the 2013 competition run-in, Bayern Munich ran out heavy 7-0 aggregate winners, securing 4-0 and 3-0 wins that led many to hail a sea change in the balance of power in European football. That win was with Jupp Heynckes in charge; now that Guardiola has taken the reins, Bayern have added further strings to their bow.
That is not to say Barcelona's task is hopeless, as they have more than enough of an attacking threat of their own (and arguably possess superior individual talents). But nobody knows Lionel Messi better than Guardiola—that goes for most of the players in that team—while his experience in such big games far outweighs that of relative novice Luis Enrique.
Barcelona at least have the first leg at home, which gives them chance to build some sort of advantage heading to the Allianz Arena (Bayern have yet to win either of their away knockout ties this season). But with their opponents having won 7-0 and 6-1 in front of their home fans already in the knockout stages this term, Barca go into the tie in the unusual position of being underdogs.
"It is a special game because of Pep, for me and for the players," manager Luis Enrique said, per UEFA's official website. "It's a great date for all Barca fans. We will go with the objective of winning both at home and away from home. The process is the same."
Winners: Juventus
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Juventus were going to be considered underdogs no matter who they were drawn against, but drawing Real Madrid is arguably the best possible outcome for Massimiliano Allegri and his team. Real will be expected to progress to the final—and probably with some ease—but Juve's particular qualities are perhaps best suited to facing Carlo Ancelotti's side.
A few factors rest in favour of Juve, a team whose strength is defending and who have already shown against Borussia Dortmund and Monaco that they are extremely capable of shutting down usually fluent attacking sides. If Luka Modric is out (and Paul Pogba is back), then Allegri will be confident he can win the midfield battle, something that could leave Real's much-vaunted attacking players without much ball to work with.
Even in (extremely narrow) defeat, Atletico Madrid gave Juventus a blueprint for how to play Real, one that Allegri will feel he can implement reasonably easily (in many ways, Atleti and Juve are stylistically similar sides). Juve's three-man defence is also a tactical setup that Real will not have seen much of recently, something that may knock them off their rhythm.
Last time the two sides met, in the group stages 18 months ago, Juventus drew in Turin (2-2) and lost at the Santiago Bernabeu (2-1). But they have arguably progressed more than their opponents in the intervening period (if anything, Real might have regressed slightly), and in Carlos Tevez, they have an in-form striker who will be keen to impress on the biggest stage he has seen in a while.
Relieved of pressure or expectation as they revel in the status of underdogs, there is every reason to believe this will be a very difficult tie for Real. Juve will come away secretly delighted with this draw.
Loser: Pep Guardiola
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His team may be marginal favourites going into their tie against Barcelona, but you would presume Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola would rather have done without the emotional homecoming that the tie entails.
The draw between Pep's new club and his old one guarantees he will be the dominant storyline ahead of both games, a position most coaches invariably want to avoid. As a coach, you want to shape the story, but unless your name is Jose Mourinho, you usually do not want to be the story.
"The draw wasn't a surprise, but Bayern and, above all, the first game at home makes things difficult," Barca vice-president Jordi Mestre said, via UEFA's website. "We know Josep Guardiola well, Luis Enrique and he know each other well and that will bring another attraction to the game."
Guardiola remains a Barcelona fan, of course—he has been back to the Camp Nou to use his season ticket at least once this season—and on a personal level, it will surely be nice to go back to his old club and reconnect with a number of his old friends and colleagues. But a tie already fraught with pressures and expectations becomes even more so by virtue of his personal history, and that could easily become a distraction to Bayern.
There are also more pragmatic reasons Guardiola will wish he was not facing Barcelona. He has a point to prove in this stage of the competition, after failing so publicly and emphatically against Real Madrid at the same stage a season ago. On that occasion, Guardiola blamed himself for the loss—he said he got his tactics wrong—and, at a club where semi-final exits are no longer acceptable, he needs to make amends this time.
Facing Barcelona complicates that dynamic, especially for a coach who has been known to second-guess himself. He knows his opponents so intimately he should be able to come up with a tactical plan to undo them, but it is not impossible that all that knowledge, all that choice, only ends up paralysing him.
Since arriving at Bayern, Guardiola has also been forced to live up to the results of his predecessor Jupp Heynckes, who famously won the treble in his final season. During that season, Heynckes' side also beat Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the Champions League, another benchmark against which Guardiola will be compared.
Any way you look at it, it would seem Guardiola would have rather faced Real Madrid or Juventus at this point.
Winners: The Viewers
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Last but not least, perhaps the big winners of Friday's draw were the viewers, who will now be treated to four fantastic games of football over the coming weeks.
That was essentially guaranteed to be the case however the balls fell, but nevertheless, the two semi-finals we have been granted are exactly the sort of ties UEFA would dream of at this stage of the competition.
Some observers may worry that, considering how well all these teams know each other, it is evidence of the growing hegemony of European football, but for now, that familiarity breeds only greater excitement, and not a certain contempt.
Bayern-Barcelona promises to be a feast of attacking football, with two head coaches who know each other well and have distinct tactical philosophies. Juventus-Real Madrid might be a less "exciting" encounter in terms of inspiration—Juventus's game plan will surely be to try to stifle their opponents—but the greater contrast in styles should throw up interesting elements for the purists to get their teeth into.
Both big ties, both difficult to predict—and at the end of it, the fans are guaranteed a thrilling final. The big winners from this are clear.
