Pep Guardiola Set for Barcelona Homecoming with Bayern Munich

Just as night follows day, it was almost inevitable that at one point or another Pep Guardiola and his Bayern Munich side would cross paths with Barcelona, his home town and the scene of his greatest triumphs.

While the footballing world licks its lips at the prospect of the two giants going head-to-head, there will also be a sigh of relief coming out of the Santiago Bernabeu following a draw that means only Juventus now stand between Real Madrid and their second Champions League final in a row; but more on that later.

There is no question that, under Luis Enrique, this is a Barcelona that has been going through a change—some call it evolution. A change of style that looks to give more solidity at the back while still remaining competitive, despite changing a system previously dependent on its midfield to one more reliant on its firepower up front.

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

So far, so good, but make no mistake: This is the moment of truth. It is these two semi-final legs, plus the final should Barcelona prevail, as well as the last few games of the season, that will define Enrique’s success—or lack thereof—in his first year in the Camp Nou hot seat.

Defeat will add grist to the mill of many doubters, including myself, who still believe that, all too often, the team plays in a way that makes the result like a coin toss—for instance, against Celta, Valencia and Sevilla.

If he manages to see off Bayern’s challenge, even accounting for the injury problems they have had, we will all have to eat our words and admit this truly is a Barcelona side powerful enough to change its style and still be successful at the highest level.

Mind you, if this were an injury-plagued, weakened Bayern, then heaven help anyone who has to meet them when they’re back to full strength. The match was effectively over by half-time as Guardiola’s men dismantled, destroyed and demolished a shell-shocked Porto side with five goals in the first 40 minutes of their quarter-final second leg.

But off the field as well as on it, the drama has been occurring lately at "FC Hollywood" following the walk-out of the entire medical team, including its chief medical officer, Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, who has been at the club since 1977.

Michael Probst/Associated Press

Nobody’s saying much about it, but it’s fairly safe to assume that the not-abnormal tension that exists at most big clubs between the medical team and the management rose a few notches. It reached the point where the Herr Doktor and his three assistants cleared their desks, citing what Gabriele Marcotti describes in his piece in The Times as "a breakdown in trust" at the club.

The good news that Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are on the mend and could all figure in the semi-finals has been tempered by the thigh-muscle injury sustained by Holgen Badstuber, who will be out for up to four months.

But it’s the return of Thiago that will please Guardiola more than anything else. Guardiola’s original plans were conceived on the basis of Javi Martinez at the back, Thiago in midfield and Mario Gotze up front. The much-documented injury crisis called for a change of plan.

He has a side that bases much of its play on physical strength, positioning and possession. But tactical variation has always been an important part of the overall plan, and Guardiola has always demanded of his players a flexibility of approach that can enable them to change tactics during a game, which is precisely what they did at 5-1 against Porto—when the game was well over.

Philipp Lahm certainly gets it, and Pep is gradually bringing the players around to his way of thinking, though he’s not quite there yet, which is precisely why he’ll be there next season to see the job done.

Paul White/Associated Press

They’d never say it publicly, but Real Madrid will be pleased to have drawn Juventus, albeit a Juventus side who will almost certainly be Italian champions by the time the Spanish side turn up for the first leg on May 5.

The Italians earned their semi-final place with a goalless draw against a Monaco side generally regarded by just about everyone as the weakest of all of the quarter-finalists.

Juventus managed just one goal in 180 minutes against a tactically disciplined, physically strong but ultimately limited Monaco that, in the first leg of the previous round at Arsenal, had shown they weren’t as weak as people thought, before proving in the second leg that, actually, they were.

Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press

Now, in what is an incredibly strong semi-final lineup, Juventus look to be the weakest link.

Luka Modric could be back in time for the second leg, and that would be good news for Madrid, because I’m not convinced playing Sergio Ramos in midfield in the semi-final would work.

Against Atletico, it worked to a certain extent because of the nature of the game that was always going to be defensive, where Ramos would only ever be asked to do the bread-and-butter stuff in midfield.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti probably realises he will need more in the semis. The problem is that he doesn’t have much faith in either Asier Illarramendi or Lucas Silva, and neither does he believe Sami Khedira is in the right place mentally at the moment to do a job for him.

When Gareth Bale was injured, it was thought he would be out for about three weeks, so he might just make it. There is, however, a school of thought that some of the players actually prefer playing with an extra midfielder rather than with the luxury of having Bale up front. An inclination to track back and do a bit of graft in midfield, especially on those occasions when he hasn’t got the ball, could go a long way to changing their opinions.

But the man of the moment is Chicharito, who ended a barren spell with the winning goal against Atletico. It might—but only might—persuade the club to shell out the 10 million euros it’ll cost them to buy him from Manchester United. I don’t think that was the original idea, however, and there are many at the club who feel that the only logical outcome of purchasing him would be to halt the progression of Jese at the club that many would like to see.

We’ll see. But for now, let’s not deprive him of his well-earned moment basking in the limelight.