News analysis: Pep Guardiola vs Barcelona

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola faces the maybe hardest task and the biggest challenge in his coaching career: To play his former club FC Barcelona in the Champions League semis.

Friday's draw saw Bayern meet Barcelona in the 2014/2015 semifinals of the Champions League on May 6 (in Barcelona) and May 12 (in Munich). The final will take place on June 6 in Berlin.

Next weekend, Bayern can win the German title on Matchday 29, and next Tuesday, Bayern has to beat its 2013 Champions League final opponent Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup semis.

Despite the national race for titles, from now on Guardiola will start to think about how to beat the maybe current best team with the best attacking part of all - Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Guardiola will have to beat Barcelona, the club of his life. That is definitely one of these typical emotional story only football creates. The Spanish region Catalonia stands for Guardiola's roots as a human being, as a player and was place of birth for him.

As a coach, he won triple Spanish champions, twice the Spanish Cup and twice the Champions League (2009/2011), and once (1992) as a player. Barcelona is Pep Guardiola's DNA. Until now "Barca" plays the Pep style, and on the bench as coach you find his mate Luis Enrique.

Right after the draw, "I wrote an SMS to my older daughter who is in school. Her answer: Great so I can see Grandma and Granddad," Guardiola reported with a big smile in his face.

"I always know that one day this will happen, that my new club and me will see Barcelona again. Barcelona will always be in my heart, but for now I am coach of a great team and a great club in Munich," Guardiola said.

Is it now the worst thing that could happen to Guardiola and Bayern as Barcelona is regarded to be the strongest among the final four? Italian side Juventus and Champions League titleholder Real Madrid will play the second semifinal on May 5-13.

Barcelona is not what thousands of Bayern fans around the world, on top most of Bayern's players, coaches and officials were asking for. But is Barcelona really the worst thing that could happen for the 2013 Champions League winner? German newspapers call it a "Hammer-Los", meaning the worst you can get.

Guardiola know the team by heart despite new players like Neymar and Suarez. "You know what you get. They still play like Barcelona," Guardiola said, meaning: They still play like I told them. And Bayern knows they will have to play on top level in both games.

Other than Barcelona, Bayern's game is not easy to figure out due to many injured players such as Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. That might be an advantage for Bayern and Guardiola. So Barcelona does not know what they get due to Bayern's injury problems, only that they will play a special coach with a special Barcelonan history.

That defender Holger Badstuber was sidelined in Bayern's quarterfinal against FC Porto (1-3/6-1) due to injury. That is nothing Guardiola can be happy about. Bayern's defense was a weak point lately, especially when Brazilian defender Dante had problems.

But in the end, Guardiola and Barcelona as well will have to wait to see which Bayern squad will be available for the big games. Both will try to dominate the game by a high percentage of ball possession. So far Bayern won five of the eight games with two draws and one defeat.

"That will be a very emotional game for me and my assistant coaches. It is very special. Barcelona is my home , but I am very happy to be able to go through an experience like that," Guardiola said. "They are the best."

The coach is not the only one among the Germans who will have special memories. In summer 2013, Bayern Munich signed Thiago Alcantara for 25 million Euro, who played for Barcelona from 2007 until 2013. His brother Rafinha Alcantara is still member of Barcelona's squad.

"I knew this will happen," said Thiago, who was Bayern's match winner in both quarterfinals against FC Porto.

When Guardiola meets his old fellows from Barcelona, it will not play a role that Bayern had beaten Barcelona 3-0 and 4-0 in the 2012/2013 season, which appeared as a piece of cake that time. This time it will not be anything similar.

"Barcelona are the favorites for this duel, at the moment I would say it would have been easier to beat them in one rather than in two," German and Bayern legend Franz Beckenbauer said.

"It will be hard to play them, but if there is an advantage at all to play the second game at home, and possible extra time, it is on us. It will be a 50-50 thing," said Matthias Sammer, Bayern's Director of Football.

Readers of Germany's biggest tabloid "Bild" are much more optimistic: 70-30 for Bayern was their online vote. Endi