Pep Guardiola will return to face his former club Barcelona after the draw
for the Champions League semi-finals on Friday paired the Catalans with Bayern
Munich while holders Real Madrid were drawn against Juventus.
Barcelona,
who are in the last four for the seventh time in eight seasons, will be at home
to the Bundesliga side in the first leg on May 5 or 6 with the return at the
Allianz Arena the following week.
Guardiola won the European Cup as a player with Barcelona in 1992 and
then won 14 trophies in four seasons as coach, including the Champions League
in 2009 and 2011.
He had made way for Tito Vilanova by the time Barca were
destroyed 7-0 on aggregate by Bayern in the semi-finals in 2013, when the
German giants went on to win the trophy.
Meanwhile, Madrid must go
to Italy
for the first leg of their tie against Serie A leaders Juventus as they look to
become the first club to retain the trophy in the Champions League era.
The tie is a repeat of the 1998 final, which Madrid won 1-0 in Amsterdam,
and the Spanish side will be widely fancied to come out on top on this occasion
too.
“We will face a legendary club, I think it is good news for
football and the Champions League that Juventus have returned to this level and
obviously it will be a very even tie,” said former Real player Emilio Butragueno,
now the club’s Director of Institutional Relations.
“We
faced them last year, they are a very competitive team and hopefully we
can recover the injured players to be able to face this tie at our
maximum level.”
The 10-time European champions beat city rivals Atletico Madrid in a tense quarter-final despite being without the injured Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, although coach Carlo Ancelotti is confident that at least the latter two will be fit in time for the semi-finals.
Italian Ancelotti played in the last team to win the European Cup in successive seasons, the AC Milan side of 1989 and 1990, and coached Juventus between 1999 and 2001.
Juventus are through to their first Champions League semi-final since losing on penalties to Ancelotti’s Milan in the 2003 final at Old Trafford.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/guardiola-to-return-to-barcelona-in-champions-league-semis/#sthash.c1LjaWUO.dpuf
The 10-time European champions beat city rivals Atletico Madrid in a tense quarter-final despite being without the injured Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, although coach Carlo Ancelotti is confident that at least the latter two will be fit in time for the semi-finals.
Italian Ancelotti played in the last team to win the European Cup in successive seasons, the AC Milan side of 1989 and 1990, and coached Juventus between 1999 and 2001.
Juventus are through to their first Champions League semi-final since losing on penalties to Ancelotti’s Milan in the 2003 final at Old Trafford.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/guardiola-to-return-to-barcelona-in-champions-league-semis/#sthash.c1LjaWUO.dpuf
“We faced them last year, they are a very competitive team
and hopefully we can recover the injured players to be able to face this tie at
our maximum level.”
The 10-time European champions beat city rivals Atletico
Madrid in a tense quarter-final despite being without the injured Luka Modric,
Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, although coach Carlo Ancelotti is confident that
at least the latter two will be fit in time for the semi-finals.
Italian Ancelotti played in the last team to win the
European Cup in successive seasons, the AC Milan side of 1989 and 1990, and
coached Juventus between 1999 and 2001.
Juventus are through to their first Champions League
semi-final since losing on penalties to Ancelotti’s Milan in the 2003 final at Old Trafford.
Pep
Guardiola will return to face his former club Barcelona after the draw
for the Champions League semi-finals on Friday paired the Catalans with
Bayern Munich while holders Real Madrid were drawn against Juventus.
Barcelona, who are in the last four for the seventh time in eight seasons, will be at home to the Bundesliga side in the first leg on May 5 or 6 with the return at the Allianz Arena the following week.
Guardiola won the European Cup as a player with Barcelona in 1992 and then won 14 trophies in four seasons as coach, including the Champions League in 2009 and 2011.
He had made way for Tito Vilanova by the time Barca were destroyed 7-0 on aggregate by Bayern in the semi-finals in 2013, when the German giants went on to win the trophy.
Meanwhile, Madrid must go to Italy for the first leg of their tie against Serie A leaders Juventus as they look to become the first club to retain the trophy in the Champions League era.
The tie is a repeat of the 1998 final, which Madrid won 1-0 in Amsterdam, and the Spanish side will be widely fancied to come out on top on this occasion too.
“We will face a legendary club, I think it is good news for football and the Champions League that Juventus have returned to this level and obviously it will be a very even tie,” said former Real player Emilio Butragueno, now the club’s Director of Institutional Relations.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/guardiola-to-return-to-barcelona-in-champions-league-semis/#sthash.c1LjaWUO.dpuf
Barcelona, who are in the last four for the seventh time in eight seasons, will be at home to the Bundesliga side in the first leg on May 5 or 6 with the return at the Allianz Arena the following week.
Guardiola won the European Cup as a player with Barcelona in 1992 and then won 14 trophies in four seasons as coach, including the Champions League in 2009 and 2011.
He had made way for Tito Vilanova by the time Barca were destroyed 7-0 on aggregate by Bayern in the semi-finals in 2013, when the German giants went on to win the trophy.
Meanwhile, Madrid must go to Italy for the first leg of their tie against Serie A leaders Juventus as they look to become the first club to retain the trophy in the Champions League era.
The tie is a repeat of the 1998 final, which Madrid won 1-0 in Amsterdam, and the Spanish side will be widely fancied to come out on top on this occasion too.
“We will face a legendary club, I think it is good news for football and the Champions League that Juventus have returned to this level and obviously it will be a very even tie,” said former Real player Emilio Butragueno, now the club’s Director of Institutional Relations.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/guardiola-to-return-to-barcelona-in-champions-league-semis/#sthash.c1LjaWUO.dpuf
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