Simply put, not many would have expected Bayern Munich to be the side facing a possible early exit from the Champions League. Although the Portuguese giants are no slouch themselves, die Roten players and their supporters did not anticipate finding themselves 3-1 behind after the first leg with a mountain to climb at the Allianz Arena.
Statistically, the odds are not in favour of the Bundesliga titans. Tonight will represent the fifth time they will have to try to progress after suffering a loss by more than two goals away from home. In their last four attempts, when found in this situation, Bayern have not been able to progress - with the most recent instance occurring against Chelsea back in 2005.
Tough task: Pep Guardiola could face another premature exit from the Champions League
Despite the pressure mounting on the Spaniard's shoulders, the former Barcelona boss - who has never failed to reach the quarter-finals in his career - did not mince his words when assessing his team's objectives for tonight:
"Es macht keinen Sinn, auf dem Feld zu stehen, wenn man das Spiel nicht drehen will. Wir wollen es drehen!" #FCBPK pic.twitter.com/wy3lOzFyVJ
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) April 20, 2015
"There's no point in showing up on the pitch if we don't want to turn the game around. We want to progress!"
Still, despite the tricky exam that awaits, die Roten supporters will be pleased with this stat:
In den 4 CL-Heimspielen 2014/2015 kassierte der #FCBayern kein einziges Gegentor - wichtige Grundlage für #FCBFCP! pic.twitter.com/rqrpfX5S9O
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) April 21, 2015
"Bayern have kept a clean sheet in all four UCL home games this season"
Naturally, this resolve will be put to the test with their troubling injury woes. Defensively, they will be without Javi Martinez, David Alaba, and Mehdi Benatia, as well as reserve goalkeeper Tom Starke. On the offensive front star duo Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are still on the treatment table.
And should they progress, they will have to worry about Jerome Boateng, Juan Bernat, Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer with the quartet just one booking away from a ban, so they will be walking a suspension tightrope.
Meanwhile, despite holding a fairly comfortable advantage as they seek their first Champions League semi-final since the 2003/2004 season, Porto still are aware of the onslaught they will have to withstand as a wounded Bayern try to get revenge from their loss last week.
"We couldn't have dreamed of a better result than 3-1, but we've still got an away game to play and it will be very, very difficult. [So] we'll have to defend very well and be strong as a team," Yacine Brahimi noted following his team's win in Portugal.
Julen Lopetegui will also be without several key personnel. Danilo and Alex Sandro are both out due to a ban and Cristian Tello is still recuperating from a thigh injury. Will the Dragões be able to withstand the Blitzkrieg at the Allianz Arena? Or will Bayern finally overcome their negative history to secure their spot in the final four?
We will know the answer after what hopefully will be an entertaining 90 minutes of football in Munich!
Bayern vs. Porto line-ups
Bayern's Starting XI: Neuer; Alonso, Thiago, Lewandowski, Rafinha, Boateng, Bernat, Götze, Lahm, Müller, Badstuber.
Porto's Starting XI: Fabiano, Reyes, Maicon, Marcano, Martins Indi, Casemiro, Torres, Herrera, Quaresma, Jackson Martínez, Brahimi.
Bayern's subs: Reina, Dante, Pizarro, Gaudino, Rode, Weiser, Schweinsteiger.
Porto's subs: Helton, Neves, Evandro, Quintero, Ricardo, Hernani, Aboubakar.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
