LONDON: The month of truth could end bitter-sweet for Bayern Munich and their star coach Pep Guardiola as they seek to reverse a 3-1 deficit against FC Porto in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.

Guardiola’s former side Barcelona, though, are on the brink of a seventh Champions League semi-final in eight seasons as they host Paris St Germain in Tuesday’s other last-eight second-leg tie with 3-1 advantage from the first leg in Paris last week.

Bayern are coming off a turbulent week in what Guardiola has called the decisive stage of the season with the team’s doctor, Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt, quitting after nearly four decades at the club, saying he and his staff had been unfairly blamed for the defeat in Porto.

The mood improved somewhat after a routine 2-0 victory at Hoffenheim on Saturday in an efficient if not truly convincing performance that kept them on course for the Bundesliga title.

Guardiola admitted Tuesday’s tie against Porto is effectively a ‘final’ for Bayern with the injury-hit Bavarians staring down the barrel of a Champions League exit as they pursue their dream of repeating their 2013 European, league and cup treble.

In four previous attempts, Bayern have never over-turned a two-goal deficit in European competition and Guardiola knows his side face an uphill task at the Allianz Arena.

“People do not know how difficult our situation is,” he told reporters after the victory over Hoffenheim. “I will never in my life forget these months and I am proud of the team. Now we have on Tuesday the most important Champions League game.

“This game is our final and we’ll have to put in a super performance. It will be hard, but we have to try and I have a lot of trust in my players.”

Guardiola is the middle of a three-year contract and won the domestic double in his first season but lost badly to Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.

Now, Bayern is threatened with an even earlier exit, which could shake Guardiola’s so far untouchable position at the club. With Bayern’s group of stars domestic dominance is taken for granted and Guardiola will be ultimately judged by Bayern’s performance in the Champions League.

Bayern players need all the pep talk they can get with Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, David Alaba, Medhi Benatia and Javi Martinez certain to miss the game.

Porto are in fine form, having yet to lose in the Champions League this season and showing superb focus in the first leg to contain Bayern but in Munich their defence will weakened by the absence of suspended Brazilian full-backs Danilo and Alex Sandro.

“We’d be making a mistake if we went there to defend for 90 minutes,” said Porto captain Jackson Martinez. “We know it’s going to be hard and we’re going to suffer just like we did at home. But I think we have the right players and can deliver a good game.”

Barcelona’s lethal attack has put them on course for yet another Champions League semi-final but their shaky defence gives a PSG side bolstered by the return of key personnel through suspension to the Nou Camp a glimmer of hope.

The Catalan side are renowned for the quick passing possession game that brought them so much success under Guardiola, but now coach Luis Enrique is looking to triumph with a more direct approach in his first season in charge.

The relatively undemonstrative Spaniard has so far steered his team to 41 wins, three draws and five losses, with 141 goals scored and just 31 conceded — better statistics than any predecessor, including Guardiola, Johan Cruyff and even the locally revered Helenio Herrera.

And Barca defender Dani Alves has warned his side against complacency. “It is true we have an important advantage, but this tie is by no means over,” right-back Alves told Barca’s website. “The philosophy and the spirit of the team is to challenge for every ball as if it was the last.

“We cannot think about our advantage, but just control the game and look to score from the first minute. That is the only way to overcome PSG.”

Pressure will be on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti, both back from one-match suspensions, to prove that it was their absence that PSG felt most keenly in their first-leg loss and to make the difference in the return leg.

It would take a remarkable turnaround for PSG to progress to the semi-finals for the first time since 1995 as Barca haven’t lost at home by more than one goal for nearly two years

But PSG defender Marquinhos is still hoping. “The return leg in the Nou Camp will be very intense and very difficult, but we will go there with the aim of qualifying,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play