Bayern welcome Barcelona in heavweight bout

For the second season running FC Bayern München take on a Spanish powerhouse in the UEFA Champions League semi-final. Last year they overcame Real Madrid CF; now they are looking to do the same to FC Barcelona. Bayern, the 2012 runners-up, have lost only once in their 20 home meetings with Spanish opposition but a tough challenge awaits against a Barcelona side competing in a record sixth successive UEFA Champions League semi-final.

• Both clubs are chasing a fifth European crown and have another connection in Josep Guardiola. A UEFA Champions League winner with Barcelona as player and coach, he left the Camp Nou last summer after overseeing their 2009 and 2011 European triumphs. He will replace Jupp Heynckes – once coach of Madrid – at Bayern this summer.

Past meetings
• Barcelona were 5-1 aggregate winners in the 2008/09 quarter-finals. They effectively decided the outcome in the first leg, sweeping in four first-half goals through Lionel Messi (9, 38), Samuel Eto'o (12) and Thierry Henry (43). Bayern earned a 1-1 draw against that season's eventual champions in the return, Franck Ribéry (47) and Seydou Keita (73) scoring. With Guardiola serving a one-match ban, Tito Vilanova was on the touchline in Munich.

• The lineups in Munich on 8 April 2009 were:
Bayern: Butt, Lell, Lúcio, Demichelis, Lahm, Sosa (Hamit Altıntop 78), Van Bommel, Ottl, Zé Roberto (Borowski 78), Ribéry, Toni.
Barcelona: Valdés, Alves, Puyol, Piqué, Abidal, Xavi, Touré, Keita, Messi, Eto'o, Iniesta (Hleb 78).

• Ottmar Hitzfeld's Bayern beat Louis van Gaal's Barcelona home and away in the 1998/99 group stage en route to reaching that season's final. Stefan Effenberg (45) earned a 1-0 victory in Munich while at the Camp Nou, Alexander Zickler (48) and Hasan Salihamidžić (87) struck to overturn Giovanni's 29th-minute penalty.

• Bayern won the clubs' only previous semi-final 4-3 on aggregate on their way to lifting the 1995/96 UEFA Cup. The first leg in Germany finished 2-2, Gheorghe Hagi hitting Barcelona's 77th-minute equaliser after Marcel Witeczek (52) and Mehmet Scholl (57) had overturned Óscar García's strike (15). Otto Rehhagel's Bayern came out on top at the Camp Nou, Markus Babbel (39) and Witeczek (83) scoring before Iván de la Peña's reply (88) for Johan Cruyff's team. Barcelona's lineup included Guardiola and goalkeeper Carles Busquets, father of Sergio.

Match background
• Bayern have won 11 of their last 13 UEFA Champions League games on home turf, including last season's final, a play-off victory over FC Zürich and a 2-1 success against Madrid in last year's semi-final first leg. They beat Valencia CF 2-1 in September to maintain an excellent home record against Spanish sides: W14 D5 L1. The solitary defeat was a 3-2 loss to RC Deportivo La Coruña in 2002/03.

• Barcelona are looking to extend an eight-match unbeaten sequence on German soil, which has featured five wins and three draws. Their most recent trip was for a 3-1 victory at FC Bayer 04 Leverkusen in last season's last 16 – they went on to win the second leg 7-1. Leverkusen were the last team to beat Barcelona in Germany, inflicting a 2-1 defeat in the 2001/02 group stage; that was also their last defeat home and away against Bundesliga clubs. Of the subsequent 17 matches, Barcelona have won 14 and drawn three. Barcelona's record away to German teams, including in two two-legged UEFA Super Cup ties, is W9 D10 L5.

• Barcelona's record against German sides in two-legged contests in UEFA competition is W13 L4; Bayern's record against Spanish opponents is W8 L6.

• Bayern's European Cup semi-final record is nine wins and five defeats:
2011/12 Real Madrid CF 3-3, won 3-1 on penalties (2-1 h, 1-2 a)
2009/10 Olympique Lyonnais, won 4-0 (1-0 h, 3-0 a)
2000/01 Real Madrid CF, won 3-1 (1-0 a, 2-1 h)
1999/2000 Real Madrid CF, lost 2-3 (0-2 a, 2-1 h)
1998/99 FC Dynamo Kyiv, won 4-3 (3-3 a, 1-0 h)
1994/95 AFC Ajax, lost 2-5 (0-0 h, 2-5 a)
1990/91 FK Crvena zvezda, lost 3-4 (1-2 h, 2-2 a)
1989/90 AC Milan 2-2, lost on away goals (0-1 a, 2-1 h)
1986/87 Real Madrid CF, won 4-2 (4-1 h, 0-1 a)
1981/82 PFC CSKA Sofia, won 7-4 (3-4 a, 4-0 h)
1980/81 Liverpool FC, 1-1, lost on away goals (0-0 a, 1-1 h)
1975/76 Real Madrid CF, won 3-1 (1-1 a, 2-0 h)
1974/75 AS Saint-Étienne, won 2-0 (0-0 a, 2-0 h)
1973/74 Újpest FC, won 4-1 (1-1 a, 3-0 h)

• Barcelona have won six of their previous 13 semi-finals:
2011/12 Chelsea FC, lost 2-3 (0-1 a, 2-2 h)
2010/11 Real Madrid CF, won 3-1 (2-0 a, 1-1 h)
2009/10 FC Internazionale Milano, lost 2-3 (1-3 a, 1-0 h)
2008/09 Chelsea FC 1-1, won on away goals (0-0 h, 1-1 a)
2007/08 Manchester United FC, lost 0-1 (0-0 h, 0-1 a)
2005/06 AC Milan, won 1-0 (1-0 a, 0-0 h)
2001/02 Real Madrid CF, lost 1-3 (0-2 h, 1-1 a)
1999/2000 Valencia CF, lost 3-5 (1-4 a, 2-1 h)
1993/94 FC Porto, won 3-0 (h)
1985/86 IFK Göteborg, 3-3, won 5-4 on penalties (0-3 a, 3-0 h)
1974/75 Leeds United AFC, lost 2-3 (1-2 a, 1-1 h)
1960/61 Hamburger SV, won replay 1-0 (1-0 h, 1-2 a)
1959/60 Real Madrid CF, lost 2-6 (1-3 a, 1-3 h)
* The Spanish side advanced to the 1991/92 final as group winners.

• Bayern have twice overcome Spanish opposition in European Cup finals, beating Club Atlético de Madrid after a replay in 1973/74 and Valencia on penalties in 2000/01.

• Barcelona beat Fortuna Düsseldorf to win the European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1979 and have defeated Borussia Dortmund (1998) and SV Werder Bremen (1993) to win the UEFA Super Cup.

• The winners will face Dortmund or Madrid in the final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 25 May.

Team ties
• Heynckes suffered two defeats against Barcelona in his solitary campaign as Madrid coach in 1997/98, losing 3-2 at home and 3-0 away in a season where the Merengues finished fourth and Barcelona first. However, he did steer Madrid to that season's UEFA Champions League title, their first for 32 years. Heynckes also had spells coaching Athletic Club (1992-94 and 2001-03) and CD Tenerife (1996/97). His combined Liga record against Barcelona is P12 W4 D3 L5.

• Bayern's 2011/12 semi-final victory against Madrid was Heynckes' first in two-legged European ties against Spanish opposition as a coach. His four defeats include a 7-0 loss at RC Celta de Vigo with SL Benfica in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup and an incredible 1985/86 UEFA Cup tie with VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach where his side beat Madrid 5-1 at home but still lost on away goals after a 4-0 defeat in Spain.

• As a Mönchengladbach player, Heynckes scored four goals in a 9-2 aggregate victory against Real Zaragoza in the 1974/75 UEFA Cup third round. In the following season's European Cup quarter-finals, he scored against Madrid yet lost on away goals.

• Arjen Robben was a Madrid player from 2007-09, winning one Liga title and scoring against Barcelona in a 4-1 Liga win on 7 May 2008. While at Chelsea, the Dutchman suffered last-16 elimination against Barcelona in 2005/06.

• Robben was in the Netherlands side beaten by Spain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final. Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Busquets, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, David Villa, Pedro Rodríguez and Cesc Fàbregas all featured for Spain.

• Puyol headed the only goal of Spain's 2010 World Cup semi-final past Manuel Neuer. Germany's team also featured Philipp Lahm, Mario Gomez, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos. For Lahm, Gomez and Schweinsteiger it was an unhappy repeat of their UEFA EURO 2008 final loss to a Spain side including Puyol, Iniesta, Xavi and Fàbregas.

• Thomas Müller scored in Germany's 4-0 win against Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano's Argentina in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals.

• Mario Mandžukić was in the Croatia team eliminated from UEFA EURO 2012 after losing 1-0 to Spain in their final group fixture.

• Javi Martínez is an international team-mate of Barcelona's Spain contingent. With Athletic, Martínez faced Barcelona 15 times but was never on the winning team, suffering Copa del Rey final defeats in 2009 and 2012.