Why Pep Guardiola Is Under Pressure as Bayern Munich Prepare for Barcelona in

Bayern Munich enter Wednesday's Champions League clash with Barcelona in a rare situation, as clear underdogs against the Catalan giants. The German champions have rarely been the underdogs in any situation in recent years, especially since winning the treble in 2013. Yet against an in-form Barca and with many stars injured, Pep Guardiola's men face a decidedly uphill battle. It will be the Spaniard's biggest test yet of his tenure as Bayern coach and perhaps of his career to date.

The last time Bayern faced Barca as underdogs in the Champions League, they did so under Jurgen Klinsmann against Guardiola's team in the 2008-09 quarterfinals. Against arguably the best and most balanced Barca ever, featuring a killer triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry, as well as midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta in their prime, Bayern were overwhelmed. It was 4-0 at half-time of the first leg, and the Catalan side were 5-1 winners over the two legs.

Bayern have come a long way since then, when their only truly world-class players were Franck Ribery and Philipp Lahm, the latter of whom missed the first leg of the Barca tie due to an injury sustained shortly before kickoff. Hans-Jorg Butt, Martin Demichelis, Hamit Altintop, Luca Toni, Massimo Oddo, Breno, Christian Lell—these were players of varying quality at the time, but all were cleared out in the years that followed in order to make room for stars of the current team like World Cup winners Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, and Mario Gotze, as well as Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski, David Alaba, Mehdi Benatia and more.

The status of underdogs in theory should suit Bayern well, as it is a complete reversal of their usual, highly-pressured circumstance. The onus will be on Barca to take the game to their opponents, especially as they play the first leg at home. Marti Perarnau has already prepared his excuse for Guardiola should Bayern lose, the Pep Confidential author painting a vivid picture in The Guardian of the trainer being somewhat of a David-type against the Barca Goliath, fighting against all odds.

Indeed, a look through Bayern's list of injured stars will reveal half a squad's worth of starters as absentees: Ribery, Robben, Alaba and Holger Badstuber will all miss the match, while Robert Lewandowski is questionable.

On the other hand, Guardiola will still have a world-class lineup available. Should he play, Lewandowski will not be lacking fitness due to his facial injury. He's arguably the best striker in the world and has been in scintillating form as of late. Benatia was Serie A's best defender last season and was first-choice before Badstuber's injury. Thiago Alcantara has been brilliant since making his return from a year-long injury nightmare and along with Lewandowski has been Bayern's best player in the big moments in recent weeks. And in Neuer, Boateng, Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Gotze and Thomas Muller, Guardiola will have five starters from the Germany team that won the World Cup last summer as well as the man who decided the final.

Barca may be favorites, but it's not as though Bayern are in any way substandard. Their squad is better than Klinsmann's by orders of magnitude, and far more complete than the side that Louis van Gaal brought to the 2010 Champions League final. Player-for-player, it can at least match the Bayern side Jupp Heynckes took to the 2012 Champions League final. And compared with their opponents on Wednesday, there are few areas where the German giants are clearly inferior.

To expect a Bayern victory even with a fully fit squad would be foolhardy, given that games at such a high level are often decided on the finest of margins. At the same time, it would be similarly foolish to write off a potential defeat as inevitable due to injuries. There are plenty of champions in the squad, and plenty who have overcome enormous obstacles in their careers. Consider the Bayern side that beat then-reigning Champions League finalists Manchester United in 2010, or that which beat the then-most expensive squad ever assembled in Real Madrid in 2012. Or consider the six Germany internationals who won the World Cup last summer despite lacking a left-back or striker below the age of 36 and losing their most in-form attacker days before the tournament.

Just how good Bayern's available squad truly is can easily be forgotten given the star names on their list of injured players. And perhaps defeat is predictable because of the club's record against the toughest opposition this season: Two wins in eight Bundesliga fixtures against top-five teams, draws over 120 minutes in the DFB-Pokal quarter- and semi-finals, a draw away to Shakhtar and losses away to Porto and Manchester City in the Champions League.

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

In each of the aforementioned instances, there have always been excuses. And in the Champions League, Bayern were even able to exact their revenge to gloss over their first-leg disappointments. Against Shakhtar and Porto, for example, they hammered their opponents at home. But eventually, there comes a point where excuses are not enough. Bayern have quality in their squad that other coaches have been able to take advantage of, and at least once in awhile should be capable of a convincing performance in either a single, high-profile match or a two-legged tie. When continued disappointment occurs at the top level, questions have to be asked about the club's direction.

Compared with Shakhtar and Porto, Barcelona are a whole different level of competition. Bayern thus far have been able to overcome 90 minutes of poor play with utter dominance in each of their previous two Champions League knockout round ties. Their story from last season was much the same as they overcame Arsenal and Manchester United each with one very convincing performance and one far less so. That campaign would end in disaster with a record, 5-0 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid. Guardiola and company face similarly strong, Spanish opposition in Wednesday's semifinal, and unlike against Porto and Shakhtar, they can't afford to wait until the second leg to hit top gear.

Bayern face a big challenge in Barca, but none of a magnitude their players haven't overcome before. A close game regardless of result will be respectable, but a comprehensive loss would justify questions about the club's future and Guardiola's status as manager. As quick as many are to preemptively blame injuries for any disappointment, the pressure ought to be on the trainer to justify his billing and bring out the same qualities from his players that the likes of Heynckes, Van Gaal and Joachim Low have.

@Mr_Bundesliga