Barcelona Beats Bayern Munich 3-0

Barcelona's Neymar is airborne after challenging for the ball with Bayern's Xabi Alonso, left, and Philipp Lahm during the Champions League semifinal first leg soccer match between Barcelona and Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, May 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez). Read more after the cut……

Bayern Munich to face Barcelona, Real Madrid draws Dortmund in Champions League semifinals

By Mark Doyle

Bayern Munich will face Barcelona in the semifinals of the Champions League, while Real Madrid has been paired with Borussia Dortmund, setting up the possibility for an all-German or all-Spanish final.

The Bavarians have claimed the continent’s top prize on five previous occasions and are desperate to atone for defeat in last year’s tournament decider against Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Barcelona, semifinalists for the sixth year in a row, is seeking its third Champions League title in five seasons. The pairing pits together former Barcelona player and manager Pep Guardiola's old side against the one he is set to take over at the end of the season, as Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes makes way for the Spanish boss.

Barca's Liga rivals Madrid is bidding for its 10th European Cup, while Blancos boss Jose Mourinho is hoping to become the first coach to lift the trophy with three clubs, having previously prevailed with Porto and Inter.

Dortmund has made just one previous appearance in the final, in 1997, when it upset Juventus in Munich. The pairing sets up a two rematches from the group stage, as both Madrid and Dortmund got through this season's Group of Death. Dortmund won the first meeting 2-1, and the two teams played to a 2-2 draw in their second encounter.

The first legs will be played on April 23 and 24, with the return fixtures to come on April 30 and May 1. The final, meanwhile, will take place at London's Wembley Stadium on May 25.

Culled from Goal.com

Bayern wins Bundesliga title with 6 games to spare

BERLIN (AP) -- Bayern Munich clinched the Bundesliga title with a record six games to spare, winning 1-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday as Bastian Schweinsteiger scored in the 52nd minute.

 

Bayern Munich (24-1-3), the first team to clinch this season in a major European league, maintained a 20-point lead over second-place Borussia Dortmund (16-5-7), which rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat visiting Augsburg 4-2 as former American under-20 team defender Neven Subotic scored the go-ahead goal. Dortmund had won the previous two league titles.
''It was a long road and I think it was totally deserved,'' Bayern defender Phillip Lahm said. ''If you look at the statistics for the season, you can see we were clearly the best side.''

Schweinsteiger scored with a backheel to deflect Lahm's cross past goalkeeper Oka Nikolov, and Bayern extended its league winning streak to 11 games.
Bayern has won a record 23 German league titles; no other club has more than 10. It is has 75 points, six shy of the Bundesliga record set by Dortmund last season.

''It's fantastic. Above all, I'm happy for my players, who put in tremendous work all season,'' said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who will be replaced by Pep Guardiola for next season.
Schalke won 2-0 at Werder Bremen. The visitors were without American midfielder Jermaine Jones, who has missed two league games since spraining his left ankle against Costa Rica during a World Cup qualifier on March 22.

Source: the Associated Press