The Fan Hub

UEFA’s quarterfinal set up a mouthwatering prospect for die-hard and casual soccer fans across the world; the biggest rivalry in the world of sports contesting each other in the world’s biggest sports championship.

While fans of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid took great encouragement in the chance to beat their biggest rival on the biggest stage, Chelsea FC and Bayern Munich fans knew their teams were relegated to the roles of spoiler.

In this role, both teams have been able to draw success.

The hunger of these two teams is not surprising given their relative lack of success in their domestic leagues. Expected to compete for the title this year, Chelsea would be lucky to see themselves in next year’s Champions League. Bayern will qualify for the Champions League, but have been beaten yet again by Borussia Dortmund for the Bundesliga title.

Both sides may consider themselves lucky to come into their second legs with a win. Didier Drogba scored for Chelsea on their only on-target shot against the Catalan side, while Ribery and Gomez scored for Bayern thanks to a pair of defensive mistakes by the Madrid side.

Messi’s face says it all.

It was wasteful shooting that cost the defending Champions League champions, as Alexis Sanchez hit the crossbar and shot wide from close range, and Cesc Fabregas shot wide from seven yards.

Nevertheless, both underdogs are ahead the metric that matters, goals scored. Madrid has one away goal, meaning Bayern will need either a clear sheet or an away goal of their own to advance to the final in Munich. Jose Mourinho has stated that his Real Madrid team will return to the Allianz Arena to play in the Champions League final, giving confidence that Madrid can score goals at the Santiago Bernabéu to send them through. For Barcelona, a more subtle, respectful approach has been taken; Manager Pep Guardiola has stated that Chelsea is now the favorite to advance to the final. Without an away goal, Barcelona will need a 2 goal victory to advance to the final in Munich.

A disappointing performance from Lionel Messi left much to be desired from Barcelona fans; the world’s best player gave up the ball on what lead to the winning goal and was not able to find himself an equalizer. While Messi produced chances, he was not able to spur a scoring attack in the game.

Christiano Ronaldo assisted Mesut Ozil’s goal for Real Madrid, but failed to notch another tally for his fantastic scoring record this year.

The play of these two superstars will be key for their respective teams as they look towards advancing to the final.