AIRLINK 74.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.34%)
BOP 5.14 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (1.78%)
CNERGY 4.55 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.94%)
DFML 37.15 Increased By ▲ 1.31 (3.66%)
DGKC 89.90 Increased By ▲ 1.90 (2.16%)
FCCL 22.40 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.9%)
FFBL 33.03 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.95%)
FFL 9.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.41%)
GGL 10.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.46%)
HBL 115.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.35%)
HUBC 137.10 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (0.93%)
HUMNL 9.95 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.12%)
KEL 4.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.22%)
KOSM 4.83 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.65%)
MLCF 39.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.33%)
OGDC 138.20 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.22%)
PAEL 27.00 Increased By ▲ 0.57 (2.16%)
PIAA 24.24 Decreased By ▼ -2.04 (-7.76%)
PIBTL 6.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.3%)
PPL 123.62 Increased By ▲ 0.72 (0.59%)
PRL 27.40 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.66%)
PTC 13.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.71%)
SEARL 61.75 Increased By ▲ 3.05 (5.2%)
SNGP 70.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.36%)
SSGC 10.52 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (1.54%)
TELE 8.57 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.12%)
TPLP 11.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-2.46%)
TRG 64.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-0.33%)
UNITY 26.76 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.73%)
WTL 1.38 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 7,874 Increased By 36.2 (0.46%)
BR30 25,599 Increased By 139.8 (0.55%)
KSE100 75,342 Increased By 411.7 (0.55%)
KSE30 24,214 Increased By 68.6 (0.28%)

imageBERLIN: Bayern Munich head to Spain for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final -- and Pep Guardiola's return to Barcelona -- showing cracks in confidence following back-to-back defeats.

After wrapping up their 25th German league title last Sunday, Bayern's costly penalty shoot-out defeat to Borussia Dortmund last Tuesday in the German Cup semi-final was followed up by a 2-0 loss at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

It has been the worst possible run-in to the match at Camp Nou where Guardiola will be making his first return to the club where he won 14 cups and titles in his four years in charge up to 2012.

"We aren't going to talk ourselves into a corner, the season has been awesome until now," said Bayern's director of sport Matthias Sammer.

"The players and coach have deserved every compliment that has come their way more than any criticism."

But the Dortmund defeat brought injuries to two stars.

Arjen Robben limped off -- and out for the rest of the season -- after lasting just 16 minutes of the second-half.

Having recovered from torn abdominal muscles, the Dutch winger, who has 19 goals this season, tore his left calf to end his season.

Then Robert Lewandowski, Bayern's top scorer with 23 goals, fractured his nose and cheekbone in an extra-time clash with Dortmund goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak.

Sammer says the decision as to whether Lewandowski plays at Barcelona with a protective mask will be made by the player.

Guardiola gave reserve team defender Rico Strieder and striker Lukas Goertler senior debuts at Leverkusen while resting stars Thomas Mueller, Jerome Boateng, Juan Bernat and Xabi Alonso.

"The main thing is that no one else got injured," admitted Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger as Bayern headed back to Munich.

While Bayern were struggling in Leverkusen, Barcelona ran riot at Cordoba with Luis Suarez claiming a hat-trick while Lionel Messi hit two and Neymar also netting in Saturday's 8-0 thrashing.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2015

Comments

Comments are closed.