The five are understood to include club president Aziz Yildirim who was jailed last July for six years for match-fixing.

Fenerbahce was banned from the 2011-2012 Champions League due to the match-fixing scandal and now faces the possibility of another exclusion from the competition.

UEFA has also charged Besiktas, another Turkish club, in relation to match-fixing.

Disciplinary proceedings have also been opened against Steaua Bucharest for breach of UEFA Champions League participation regulations. This follows the Romanian club's owner Gigi Becali being jailed for three years for offering a £1.5 million ($2.48 million) cash bribe to rival players to a throw a match.

A UEFA statement read: "Following the investigation into alleged match-fixing activities involving Fenerbahce, the UEFA disciplinary inspector has now submitted his findings to the control and disciplinary body, in the context of disciplinary proceedings against this club and five club officials.

"This case will be heard by the UEFA control and disciplinary body on Saturday June 22.

"Proceedings have also been opened against Besiktas and two club officials in relation to match-fixing activities which are alleged to have taken place during the 2011 Turkish Cup final.

"Proceedings have also been opened against Steaua Bucharest on the basis of... the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League regulations, relating to the admission criteria for participation in UEFA competitions."

The decisions in the cases will be announced in the week starting 24 June.

The rain which has fallen over Munich almost without exception since February did not want to make way for Bayern's treble-winning party in the city's central Marienplatz, but temperatures as low as seven degrees proved no deterrent for around 20,000 fans.

"Not only do we have a world class team, but we also have world class fans," said coach Jupp Heynckes on his penultimate public appearance as Bayern coach, his last coming on Tuesday when he announces his future plans at a press conference in the city.

"Without fans like you, we would never have been able to achieve what we have done."

Heynckes, parading the UEFA Champions League trophy won in London alongside the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal, was also able to make good on a promise he made over two decades ago.

"I stood on this balcony in 1990 and, rather cockily, promised you the European Cup," he said.

"Well today I'm delivering on my promise: here is the Champions League."

It was the Bayern players' second appearance on the balcony of the city hall this northern summer, the first of which took place after its final home Bundesliga game of the season.

It returned with two more trophies, the Champions League and the DFB-Pokal, parading an historic maiden treble in the history of German football.

If it succeeds it will only increase the pressure on new arrival Pep Guardiola.

The 42-year-old ex-Barcelona boss takes office as Bayern coach on 26 June as Heynckes ends his two-year tenure as Munich coach after the final in Berlin against Stuttgart.

Bayern's 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley gave the Bavarian side its first UCL crown since 2001 having lost last season's finale in Munich.

The hurt of defeat to Chelsea on penalties at its own Allianz Arena stadium drove Bayern to win this season's Bundesliga in emphatic style.

Having broken or equalled 25 league records, Bayern will become the first German team to win the treble if it adds the German Cup to the European and league titles.

Potential victory at Berlin's Olympic Stadium - Bayern's 45th of the season - is seen by the players as a fitting finale for Heynckes before stepping down.

"We want to keep going to the end of the season and win the cup as well for the boss," said Bayern midfielder Thomas Muller.

"He has had an incredible career and this would be the perfect way to end it."

Heynckes has said Guardiola can lead Bayern to 'embark on an era in European football' but, after the club dropped just 11 Bundesliga points all season, the Spaniard will be expected to continue in the same vein.

He has some tough choices to make deciding who to leave out of his first-choice side.

Part of Bayern's success has been driven by the fierce competition for places and the arrivals of Dortmund's Germany star Mario Gotze, and possibly Robert Lewandowski, will not ease the tension.

"My successor will, of course, be able to take over a perfectly functioning team," said Heynckes, who won his second Champions League title after winning with Real Madrid in 1998.

"As far as I know, Mario Gotze will be joining Bayern Munich and I don't think Lewandowski will be hanging about too much either, and then, of course, you've got two top attackers as well."

Heynckes did a great job last season managing the egos of Bayern's stars and one of Guardiola's challenges is how to accommodate the talent at his disposal in an already congested midfield.

Bayern's Wembley hero Arjen Robben, who scored the 89th-minute winner, only returned to Heynckes' first-choice side after Toni Kroos' knee injury at the start of April.

A thrilling 2-1 victory at Wembley over Borussia Dortmund saw Bayern crowned European champion after finishing a beaten finalist in 2010 and 2012.

For Heynckes, the 68-year-old coach who is retiring at the end of the season, winning the Champions League adds to a record-breaking title win in the Bundesliga.

Now only Stuttgart in this weekend's German Cup final stand in the way of a treble.

Netherlands winger Robben, who made the first goal for Mario Mandzukic and scored a cool winner in the 89th minute, said: "This is the perfect season, and we can finish it off next week. If we win the cup final, then we will win the treble and that's our target.

"I am very proud, proud to be part of this team and to finally win this Champions League is a dream come true."

Bayern's Germany midfielder Thomas Muller said the players would not rest on their laurels.

Muller said: "We will enjoy this of course, especially because we were so sad last year when we lost in the final to Chelsea.

"But we want to keep going to the end of the season and win the cup as well for the boss.

"He has had an incredible career and this would be the perfect way to end it - in fact it's a good thing he has done his in his last season when he's 68, because if he was 25 he would have to end his career now at the peak!"

Robben and Manuel Neuer, two of Bayern Munich's outstanding players in the final, both donned T-shirts proclaiming: 'Football's Coming Hoam' immediately after the final whistle.

'Hoam' is Bavarian dialect for home, and both Bayern and Borussia Dortmund played their part to the full in ensuring a wonderful occasion at Wembley, chosen by UEFA to host the final to mark the Football Association's 150th anniversary.

For Neuer, who is now challenging for the unofficial tag of best goalkeeper in the world, it was his first Champions League winner's medal to add to his first Bundesliga title.

"To win two titles in one year is incredible, now we have a great chance of three trophies which is unbelievable," he said.

Another player who did much to secure the trophy was Javi Martinez, the Spain midfielder who was one of four relatively unheralded players who arrived in Munich last northern summer - along with Dante, Xherdan Shaqiri and Mandzukic - and has transformed the team.

Not only is the treble in sight but Bayern has smashed records for points and goal difference in the Bundesliga.

Martinez said: "You couldn't really ask for more in my first year, it's incredible.

"We are now the best team in Europe, and we hope we can remain there in the coming years."

With Dortmund bidding for its second Champions League title at Wembley, after its 1997 triumph, Bayern winger Arjen Robben broke its heart with an 89th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory.

With his season now over, Klopp admits he has a tough few months ahead as he rebuilds his squad with the new Bundesliga season starting on 9 August.

Midfield star Mario Gotze has been confirmed as a Munich player next season and Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski is set to follow him, according to Bayern's departing coach Jupp Heynckes.

But with Berlin's Olympic Stadium hosting the 2015 Champions League, Klopp has vowed to steer Dortmund back for a second crack at the European title.

"I feel a proudness comes up in me but also a certain sadness," said the 45-year-old.

"It was a great season for my team and a really, really good match.

"Perhaps it was the best match against Bayern in this season's Champions League and you know who they've played.

"Now we have to go on holiday and buy some players, because other teams want ours and we must start again.

"In two years, there's Berlin. Maybe that'd be a good place to come back to a Champions League final.

"We deserved to be in the final, we showed that tonight.

"Our fans were great, the atmosphere was great. Only the result is s***.

"I told the players we will come back, maybe not to Wembley but we'll try to come back to another final."

After the final whistle, Klopp was consoled in the Wembley stands by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"She said: 'You get to know yourself in the really bad moments'," said Klopp.

"I need a minute or two to feel proud again, at the moment only sadness prevails."

Bayern was lucky to finish the game with a full team after Brazil defender Dante was booked for a foul on Marco Reus.

That gave away a penalty which Ilkay Gundogan netted for Dortmund's equaliser.

"I saw it happen in the game and you can give a second yellow card, but when I saw it on TV, you have to give it," said Klopp about Dante's foul on Reus.

"It didn't happen but there are many times in the history of football when the ref's decisions goes against you.

"I don't know if we would have got the winner with 10 versus 11."

Having finished a record 25 points behind German league champion Munich in this season's Bundesliga, Klopp says he will assemble a side to challenge Pep Guardiola's Bayern team next season.

"I think we'll get a pretty decent team together, I wouldn't worry about that," said Klopp.

"The team implemented what we had set out to do so well.

"Bayern hardly had opportunities to play their normal game going forward and that helped us keep the game very open.

"The quality of the game struck me and I'm sure next season we'll have even more quality and we'll move on."

Arjen Robben's 89th-minute strike was sufficient to beat Jurgen Klopp's side 2-1 at Wembley as Bayern finally tasted victory in its third final in four seasons.

It meant the German side became five-time European champion and Low was quick to acknowledge the contribution of both teams while offering congratulations to Jupp Heynckes' side.

Low, quoted in the German press, said: "Congratulations to Bayern Munich on winning the Champions League.

"I especially congratulate Jupp Heynckes on this success.

"It was a high-class, fast-moving final with all that is good about football.

"Both teams have shown they were rightly in the final.

"Dortmund made it extremely difficult for the Bavarians, especially in the first half.

"During the second half, Bayern had a lot of pressure and scored the decisive goal.

"Anyone who is in a Champions League final three times in four years deserves to win the title.

"Maybe Bayern this year were simply in line."

National team manager Oliver Bierhoff added: "Europe has seen a very big final with 11 national team players on the pitch at kick-off.

"I congratulate Bayern Munich, as well as Borussia Dortmund, what a grand final!

"Today we have witnessed a great moment for German football which was watched by the whole of Europe."

Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the German Football Association (DFB), said: "My compliments go to both clubs because they have represented German football sensationally this season in the Champions League.

"Congratulations to Bayern - after the bitter defeat last year they showed a great response and absolutely deserve this title.

"I am particularly pleased that my old friend Jupp Heynckes crowns his career with this unique coaching triumph."

The Frenchman was suspended as Bayern lost the final to Inter Milan in 2010, and played as it was beaten by Chelsea on penalties in front of its own fans last year.

It made up for those painful losses by beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at Wembley Stadium, with Ribery delighted to end the team's long wait for a first Champions League crown since 2001.

"I'm happy for the team and the whole club, for (Karl-Heinz) Rummenigge and (Ulrich) Hoeness and our fans," he said, referring to the chief executive and president.

"We have waited so long for this cup so we are really happy now. I think we have done so well this season. We still have one more match and title to go for and we are aiming to win it.

"I'm here for six years now and I feel like a child or young man at Bayern. I don't have many words to share, me and my family are enjoying (life) at this club. Last year was pretty hard after losing. This season was great but this is football."

Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said his team had improved every year and learned from both previous losses.

"You have to see it from many different views, how the team has progressed, worked and developed in the last few years," he said.

"From 2010, losing the final we reached and how that was a bit lucky, and then last year's final were we played great but missed out and lost on penalties, to now where we finally ended up winning.

"Although we had a huge blow again after it went to 1-1 as we conceded a penalty. But the guys showed a great reaction and created huge chances, we missed a few chances to score but finally we sealed the victory.

"Of course we were nervous, we have been under pressure after being in the final for the third time and losing two of them.

"Plus we were facing a German team, the pressure was enormous, you could see that pressure on our team. But after the first 20 minutes we improved and played much better, created better chances in the first and second half."

The 68-year-old will be replaced at the Bayern helm by Pep Guardiola next season and was widely expected to bring an end to his distinguished coaching career.

However, after the 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, the veteran coach indicated his time may not yet be up.

"The decision on what I will do after the cup match was already taken last June? Retire? No, you will learn that after the cup final (against Stuttgart next weekend)," Heynckes told reporters after the game.

A win in the DFB-Pokal final next weekend would complete an historic treble for the Bavarian giant, but the coach admitted his team was not always on top in the game against Dortmund.

"There was pressure on both teams but we certainly felt the burden of being favourites in the first 20 minutes. We didn't get into the game in the first half so I corrected a few things at the interval," Heynckes said.

"Last week in Gladbach was a unique situation, but today I'm over the moon for my players and the Lahm/Schweinsteiger generation," he said, referring to the last game of the league season away to his former club Borussia Monchengladbach.

"I'll be celebrating with my team tonight because they've earned it. I'm sure they'll all let their hair down tonight."

Thomas Muller still believes that his coach will call it a day after a record-breaking season, while the players now have to worry about trying to better it.

"It is hard to describe. I am completely done, I have cramps left and right. But I did not go off the pitch and it paid off. Physically I am over the limit now," Muller told ZDF.

"When you are 68-years-old and you have a record season and then you win the Champions League and have the chance for the treble, you can be happy you are 68 and not 25. Because then you can retire."

Robben was the star of Bayern Munich's 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in a compelling all-German final at Wembley Stadium.

Robben, one of football's most enigmatic stars, was a member of Bayern's team that lost the final to Chelsea last season.

He also missed a penalty that could have given his side victory before the Londoners prevailed in a shootout.

”I have played in three major finals in the last three years if you count the World Cup,” he said after the titanic game which he settled with a goal three minutes from time.

”You don't want a loser tag.

”A lot has been said about last season's final but I tried to give it a positive energy.

”You don't go into a game thinking of a missed penalty.”

Robben, who was presented with the man-of-the-match award at the post-match press conference by former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, said he had prepared carefully for the match against Dortmund.

”I was prepared for today and I had a lot of plans,” he explained.

”A lot of things go through your mind and you go through them before the match and when you find that what you had planned is happening is great.

”It's a dream and very difficult to believe it.

”For a footballer this is the peak and today we got what was lacking in our lives.

”We are a real team. Defensively we were unbelievably strong all season.

”I scored the winner today but whole team deserves credit. I'm proud of this team.”

The flying Netherlands winger's late strike gave Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League final.

In the past four years, Robben had played in two Champions League finals and one FIFA World Cup final, only to finish on the losing side on all three occasions.

But he was Bayern's hero at Wembley, claiming the man-of-the-match award in London.

Despite having won league titles in four countries, the Wembley triumph is Robben's first Champions League final win with Bayern at the third attempt.

He started for Bayern in both the 2010 and 2012 Champions League finals, when his extra-time penalty against Chelsea was infamously saved last season in Munich as the trophy went to Stamford Bridge.

But he made amends at Wembley by setting up Mario Mandzukic for Bayern's opener on 60 minutes, then broke into the area a minute from time and scuffed home his shot to break Dortmund hearts.

The Wembley winner was redemption for the Dutchman who had spent much of the first half of the season on Bayern's bench.

He had two chances to score in the first half at Wembley, the clearest coming when he sprinted clear of the Dortmund defence on 29 minutes, but goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller saved his shot.

It was reminiscent of the 2010 FIFA World Cup final, when bearing down on goal for Netherlands in the 60th minute in Johannesburg, he had a chance to engrave his name in Dutch football folklore.

Instead his former Real Madrid team-mate Iker Casillas saved his shot, and Spain prevailed 1-0 in extra-time.

Previously, in the 2007 Champions League semi-final, his penalty for Chelsea was saved in the shoot-out as Liverpool went through to the final.

Then in the 2010 Champions League final, he produced a superb curling shot that might have put Bayern level but for some acrobatics from then-Inter Milan goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

Robben rose to European prominence at PSV Eindhoven before Chelsea won a bidding war with Manchester United to secure his services in a transfer worth £12 million ($18.73 million).

He won back-to-back Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho before he left Stamford Bridge in August 2007 for Real Madrid.

Robben won the Spanish title in his very first season, but when Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at the Bernabeu in a second 'Galactico' era, the Dutchman was Bayern-bound in August 2009.

Bayern romped to a league and cup double in his first season as he was voted Germany's Footballer of the Year.

This season he lost his right-wing berth to Thomas Muller and were it not for a long-term injury to Toni Kroos, Robben would have probably stayed on the bench at Wembley.

He scored the first goal which sparked Bayern's 3-0 win at Barcelona in the semi-final, second leg and with his contract due to expire in June 2015, it remains to be seen how he fits into new Bayern coach Pep Guardiola's plans next season.

Heynckes is leaving the Allianz ArenA, with former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola stepping into his shoes, and could be one of the hottest properties after Bayern's dominance at both home and abroad this northern summer.

The German giant followed up its astonishing Bundesliga triumph, where it finished 25 points clear of second place, with a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the final of the Champions League.

However, speculation persists that Heynckes may walk away from football and Ballack, who played for Bayern from 2002 until 2006, believes the 68-year-old would need a supreme challenge to tempt him back into the game.

"I don't want to talk about age but he's one of the more experienced coaches and to finish with such a success is such a fantastic moment," Ballack told Sky Sports 1.

"But on the other side, we, as ex-players and coaches, love football, it's a fantastic moment to work with a team of younger football day-by-day.

"I don't know if he wants to carry on. The Bundesliga is an option or Real Madrid, but it must be a special club otherwise it makes no sense."

Two minutes: Has his first touch of the ball, but sees a header from Marco Reus' cross blocked by Bayern Munich captain Philip Lahm.

Nine: Some good interplay with Reus ends when Lewandowski's route to goal is cut out by Jerome Boateng.

14 minutes: Needs no invitation after being given just enough space to shoot 25 yards from goal and sees his top-corner bound effort tipped over the bar by the alert Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

35: Cleverly turns past Boateng to go clean through but runs the ball just wide and his strike from a narrow angle is kept out by the feet of the onrushing Neuer.

67: Is an increasingly isolated figure in the second half and watches on as IIkay Gundogan levels from the penalty spot after Reus had fouled by Dante in the area.

79: Perhaps a touch fortunate to escape punishment after stamping on Boateng's heel after the whistle had already blown. Referee Nicola Rizzoli could not have seen the incident or Lewandowski would have been in danger of a yellow card, at least. The frustration is perhaps starting to tell.

89: The camera pans to Lewandowski after Arjen Robben scores what would prove to be the winner, with the Dortmund striker looking understandably distraught.

First minute: The forward gets into a decent position but is muscled off the ball by Neven Subotic before he can get a shot away.

Seven: Sees an attempted cross cut out by Borussia Dortmund defender Marcel Schmelzer.

25: Delightful first touch from David Alaba's crossfield ball, but is unable to provide the telling throughball for Mario Mandzukic.

28: Involved in some controversy after it appears he has a tug at Jakub Blaszczykowski's shirt in the Bayern penalty area. Referee Nicola Rizzoli is unmoved, however.

29: Plays through Arjen Robben with a toe punt pass and although the Dutchman goes clean through, he cannot lift his shot over Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.

37: Leaps above marker Schmelzer but can only glance a header from Robben's corner wide.

53: Once again eased off the ball in a good position by Subotic, who allows the ball to run out of play.

72: Goes so close to helping Bayern take the lead after shaking off Schmelzer and then rounding Weidenfeller, only to see his side-foot effort towards goal cleared off the line by Subotic, who just beat Robben to the ball.

78: Lays off Mandzukic, who fires into the side-netting, but Muller wants play called back after it appears he was barged over by Subotic shortly before freeing his team-mate.

87: Steps over the ball magnificently to allow Bastian Schweinsteiger to drive the ball towards goal from the edge of the area, with Weidenfeller making a decent save.

The glory goal came 12 months after Robben's lowest point, when he missed the penalty that would have beaten Chelsea.

That frustration was forgotten as Bayern joined Liverpool as a five-times winner of Europe's most prestigious competition, leaving Dortmund flattened and in tears at a magnificent effort that went unrewarded.

Not that either side deserved to lose an outstanding game that no neutral would have complained if it had gone to an extra 30 minutes.

Indeed, the only person who might wonder at the glory of it all is Pep Guardiola, who takes over at Bayern next season having to improve on a campaign that, by next week, may well have ended with a treble.

The only worry from either side appearing on the grandest stage was that the presence of the other would bring a degree of caution to proceedings.

After all, the pair had proved beyond doubt this season that they are the best two sides in Europe.

That a thrill-a-minute opening period ended goalless was a wonder in itself. The reasons were mainly found in the inspired performances of respective goalkeepers Manuel Neuer and Roman Weidenfeller, plus the profligacy of Robben.

In the opening 25 minutes, as the yellow Dortmund shirts buzzed around furiously, Neuer was Bayern's hero.

Germany's number one keeper tipped over a long-range Robert Lewandowski effort, turned away Jakub Blaszczykowski's low shot with his feet and also denied Sven Bender.

It was phenomenal stuff from Neuer as Bayern's stretched defence struggled to cope with the raw pace and enthusiasm of its Bundesliga rival.

Slowly though, the contest began to turn.

Mario Mandzukic reacted with fury when Robben went for goal rather than square a pass into his path that would have left a vacant net to tap into, only for Weidenfeller to make the first of his series of splendid saves.

From the corner, Weidenfeller tipped Mandzukic's header onto the crossbar before the excellent Javi Martinez skimmed a shot just over.

An enthralling contest was encapsulated in the space of seconds just before the break when Lewandowski found room inside the Bayern area to squeeze out a shot which Neuer saved and then immediately launched a counter-attack from.

Through a fortunate bounce and Mats Hummels losing his bearings, Robben ended up face-to-face with Weidenfeller. Again the Dortmund keeper won the personal duel.

It was impossible to imagine the goalless stalemate continuing. And even though some of the earlier zip was missing when the sides reconvened, it did not.

After leading the attacking raid, Robben drifted quietly into space as Franck Ribery assessed his options.

One burst of pace later and Ribery had flicked the ball to his fellow wide-man, drawing Weidenfeller from his line in desperation.

Mandzukic was in a similar place as before. This time Robben found him and the Croatian put Bayern ahead.

Soon after Dante paid the price for an ill-advised attempt at a clearance as he succeeded only in kicking Marco Reus in the stomach. Ilkay Gundogan did the rest from the penalty spot.

There was no debating the decision but, as Dante had previously been booked, there was a strong argument the Brazilian deserved a red card.

Not that there was any time to debate the issue as Neven Subotic miraculously got back to hook Thomas Muller's shot off the line before Weidenfeller flung himself in the way of David Alaba's effort.

Muller was convinced he should have had a penalty when he went down under Subotic's challenge but he didn't get one.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was next to find Weidenfeller getting in the way of one of his shots.

But Bayern need not have worried. With extra-time looking certain, Ribery managed to force a backheel through a crowd of defenders inside the Dortmund box.

Robben charged onto it. He kept his cool to nip round a couple of despairing tackles before rolling the ball past Weidenfeller to send Munich into ecstasy.

The trio, two men and a woman, took advantage of a security lapse to infiltrate the dinner to protest about UEFA staging next month's European Under-21 Championship in Israel.

Guests at the event - including David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson - were stunned as one protester jumped on the stage and started shouting slogans, while another stood behind UEFA president Michel Platini with a flag.

UEFA said in a statement: "Three people caused a minor disturbance at the UEFA Congress dinner last night. They were quickly apprehended and arrested by the police."

The dinner followed UEFA's Congress in London yesterday and was organised with the support of the Football Association.

One guest said: "It was between courses and suddenly this man and woman got on the stage and started shouting things against Israel. Another had a flag and was standing behind Platini.

"Everyone was gobsmacked. It seemed to go on for a few minutes before they were removed.

"It was a bit of a security lapse to say the least. They were smartly dressed in suits but no one could understand how they had got in because we all had to show our invitations."

Protesters from a group called Red Card Israeli Racism had also staged a demonstration outside the UEFA Congress in London's Grosvenor House hotel earlier in the day.

It is the latest in a series of protests against UEFA - in January a group of pro-Palestinian activists occupied UEFA's headquarters near Geneva.

Eight countries, including England, are taking part in the under-21 tournament in Israel next month.

Hundreds of onlookers flock to the capital's world famous landmark every morning to see the ceremony of the exchange of guard duties.

Seven miles to the north west of the palace, European football will witness another changing of the guard when German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund clash for the UEFA Champions League trophy at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening (Sunday morning AEST).

England's Premier League and Spain's Primera Division have had a stranglehold on Europe's most important club competition for the best part of the last decade.

However the winds of change that hit the continental game this season have turned into a gale force as the Bundesliga showed in no uncertain terms in two ground-breaking semi-finals that it is ready to rule Europe in the same way as it did in the 1970s.

While the Premier League lost all its representatives before the quarter-final stage and La Liga's Barcelona and Real Madrid were unceremoniously dumped in the semi-finals, Bayern and Dortmund marched on relentlessly and they will show an expected worldwide television audience of 150 million what German football today is all about.

The mood in London - the home of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur who have Euro visions - is one of apathy at worst or at best a realisation that the premiership has missed a great opportunity on the 150th anniversary of its Football Association.

As thousands of well mannered fans from Bayern and Dortmund began pouring into the city and will converge on the Trafalgar Square fan zone if the weather permits, London and its media are not getting too excited about this final.

The windy, wet and freezing conditions that continue to batter London have nothing to do with it.

So far the media is giving the twin powers of Wembley and their stars less treatment than the comings and goings of premiership managers and players or the second cricket Test between England and New Zealand.

There is also next week's eagerly awaited Championship playoff between Crystal Palace and Watford, too.

Which is all perfectly understandable from an English perspective.

The overriding feeling, however, is that football fans in London either could not care less or are grudgingly taking a back seat to let Germany's elite enjoy 'Der Klassiker' at their expense.

Bayern is hot favourite to win its fifth continental crown but it needs only to look back at last season's final to know how easily things can change in the rarefied air of football's highest level.

This will be Bayern's third UCL final in four seasons and it will be desperate to make up for two devastating losses to Inter Milan and Chelsea.

Coach Jupp Heynckes has dismissed suggestions that his side is mentally brittle.

"No, I don't see that at all," he said this week.

"We are very strong mentally and psychologically.

"When you have lost the Champions League (to Chelsea) after being the better team for 120 minutes it takes some guts to recover from that."

Yet striker Thomas Muller also said it was important for Bayern to win the elusive trophy because the club would not take kindly to being labelled as "losers".

If you forget the general lack of English interest in the final fest, the last word should go to a ticket collector at an underground station.

After seeing a few Dortmund fans walk past him, he asked me "why do two German teams have to play each other over here in London? It's stupid."

There are some people even in England who do not understand how football works.

The legendary German accuracy from the penalty spot suffered a malfunction 12 months ago when Chelsea emerged victorious to conquer Europe for the first time.

Bayern returns to the final for the third time in four years knowing its mettle might be tested in the most extreme manner again as it does battle with Borussia Dortmund in the first all-German final, but Muller is refusing to lose any sleep over the prospect.

Indeed, if his performance in the pre-match media briefing is anything to go by, he is rather looking forward to it.

"What happened last year has nothing to do with self-confidence," he said.

"You never know who will be on pitch at that point and some players better at penalties than others, but no-one will be wetting their pants over it."

The German invasion of Wembley does appear to mark a shift in the European balance of power.

Lauded as possibly the greatest club side ever for its performances over the previous four seasons, Barcelona was slaughtered by Bayern in the semi-final.

The four-times winner scored seven times without reply in a quite staggering two-legged display, even if Lionel Messi played through injury in the first encounter and sat out the second completely as Bayern romped to a 7-0 aggregate triumph.

"Barcelona were extraordinary in what they have done over the last few years," said Bayern skipper Philipp Lahm.

"They have won the Champions League on a couple of occasions and we felt they were the team we knew we had to beat if we were going to be successful this season.

"But we have developed by working together as a team. We have lots of attacking qualities and we didn't let them through our defence at all.

"It is difficult to know whether we can take the torch away from them, we shall have to see how it develops.

"But things are looking very positive for the future of the team. We have a great team, at the right age and we work well together."

Coach Jupp Heynckes reported a fully fit 21-man squad, which will allow Bayern to start favourite to lift its first European crown since 2001.

With the Bundesliga title already confirmed and a German Cup final against Stuttgart to follow next week, Heynckes' final season as a coach is threatening to leave new boss Pep Guardiola with a difficult act to follow.

The 68-year-old accepts his team is something special.

"We have achieved some extraordinary things," he said "Overall, our season has been the best in the Bundesliga from any team in 50 years.

"But we have the aspiration to carry on. We want to maintain our form tomorrow and in the German Cup Final.

"I am fortunate. I have won the Champions League before when I was at Real Madrid. For the players in our squad who are 28 and over, tomorrow could be the crowning moment of their entire careers."

Though Bayern has not beaten Dortmund in six meetings since February 2010, it starts overwhelming favourite given the manner in which it has transferred its imperious domestic form onto the European stage.

Muller acknowledges the side Bayern wrested the Bundesliga title from has plenty of quality despite the absence of Bayern-bound Mario Gotze.

However, he is adamant his side is the stronger.

"Borussia are a complete team," he said. "That is harder to deal with than a group of individual players, even though their individuals are also very good.

"But I don't have believe we have any weaknesses.

"We have played a lot of games, scored a great deal of goals and not conceded many.

"I have a really good feeling about tomorrow."

Both Dortmund and Bayern Munich experienced difficulty navigating rush hour London traffic to reach the stadium for the final training session.

It was not what they hoped for and in Klopp's case, he was particularly perplexed as Dortmund was supposed to be getting a police escort.

"We had three motorcycles next to us but are they not allowed to use their blue lights?" said Klopp.

"It would be very useful tomorrow.

"We were supposed to be training in the morning but given this awful traffic I am not so sure.

"If someone knows a policeman please ask him if he could put the lights on."

As ever with Klopp it seems, a smile was not far from his face.

The light-hearted approach could be a major advantage for Dortmund given its underdog status.

In fairness to the 45-year-old, he would much prefer to be at Wembley for the first all-German Champions League final than at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, where Manchester United and Chelsea did battle in the all-English affair five years ago.

"Moscow was good but doesn't have Wembley's tradition," he said.

"This is a special game, the biggest cup in the world between two teams from the same country.

"It is the perfect place against the perfect opponent.

"If this has been my only final and I die in 60 years, it won't have been so bad."

Although Dortmund has an impressive record against Bayern over the last couple of years, Klopp understands why his opponent starts as favourite.

With its four European Cup wins and 23 Bundesliga titles, Munich is one of the game's true giant, with a history that endures no matter what short-term problems are encountered and a wallet that allows it to buy the very best.

In Dortmund's case that means Mario Gotze, who will miss the game with a groin injury and, in all probability, star striker Robert Lewandowski.

"They are not going to get any worse are they?" said key defender Matt Hummels, who has shrugged off a foot injury. "Not if they keep taking our players.

"Tomorrow we need to show those who would like to go to Munich that they will be missing out on something."

There is a reason Dortmund will not break the bank to keep hold of its best players and why it is susceptible to raids from richer rivals, as happened at the end of last season when Shinji Kagawa left for Manchester United.

It is that in 2005, just eight years after its only Champions League success, it almost went bust and Klopp knows such a near-catastrophe will not be allowed to happen again.

"The club could have ended as a fiasco," he said. "The stadium might have been turned into a monument.

"Instead, it has risen from the ashes.

"Football is a religion in Dortmund. Bayern may have won a lot of fans and a lot of trophies because of the incredible number of good decisions they have made. But now there is another story. Along has come another club that is pretty good as well.

"We do have money to get good players. But there are other clubs who can spend more money.

"We have to take a different position."

Such is the impact Klopp has made after back-to-back titles and a surge to the Champions League final - that saw it emerge unbeaten from four encounters with Real Madrid and prove itself superior to Manchester City - he could become a target for Europe's elite as well.

For now though, he is wrapped up in the Dortmund dream.

"What we have grown in the last five years has been amazing," he said, recalling his arrival from Mainz after Dortmund's worst league campaign in two decades.

"It could only have been done at this club.

"That is why things are so emotional for us, compared to other places where success is normal."

The move, announced at the UEFA Congress on Friday, is an attempt to increase interest in Europe's secondary club competition.

There have been several initiatives in the past to boost the prestige of the tournament, including changing the name to its current guise from the UEFA Cup in 2009.

Teams that finish third in their UEFA Champions Leaguegroup also drop into the competition.

The decision follows months of discussions between the governing body and the European Club Association.

The competition generates less income and media focus than the UEFA Champions League, but it is hoped that Friday's announcement will raise the profile of the contest.

This season's competition was won by Premier League side Chelsea, which defeated Portuguese outfit Benfica 2-1 in the final.

The Congress also announced that the 2015 UEFA Champions League final would be held at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, while Warsaw's National Stadium will host that season's UEFA Europa League final.

Klopp's men scored two goals in stoppage time to defeat the Spanish side and reach the semi-finals, where it beat Real Madrid.

It now faces familiar foes Bayern Munich at Wembley in Saturday's (Sunday AEST) showpiece and Klopp says the last-eight win inspired his side.

"It was after this quarter-final win and particularly the way it came about, that we thought it could work out, that we had a chance to go to Wembley," he told the club's official website.

"It may be a surprise that we are in the final, but it's not a sensation."

Klopp said his tactics are based on teamwork and the willingness to help your fellow players.

"Football is a team sport. The whole point of this game is to help each other improve," he said.

"With the exception of your family members, your team-mates should be the people you feel most comfortable around. That's my idea of football."

Meanwhile, club CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke believes that BVB is the only team capable of overcoming Bayern Munich, who stormed to the Bundesliga title and beat Barcelona 7-0 over two legs this season.

"I think there is only team at the moment that can beat Bayern - and that's us," he said.

"Of course everything has to fall into place and we have to play at the top of our game. But, yes, we have a chance. In any case, we will stretch Bayern to the limit."

Watzke also hailed the group-stage campaign as the making of the team, with BVB having finished first in a group containing Ajax, Manchester City and Madrid.

"When the draw was made, I wasn't as disappointed as some other people who don't know us very well," he added.

"Back then I said: 'this is the kind of group in which heroes are born.'

"I guess I've been proven right, but of course we never expected to make it this far when the season began."

Bayern can complete part two of a possible treble with victory and goes into the clash with Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund as a clear favourite.

Jupp Heynckes' side finished 25 points ahead of Dortmund in winning the league title and have the DFB-Pokal final to come at the start of June.

"We've taken a massive stride towards perfection and we're aiming for a perfect performance in the final," Schweinsteiger said.

"For me, the decisive factor will be everyone working hard and running for the others when we don't have the ball.

"If we play to our potential, it's very hard for anyone to win against us."

Dortmund is the underdog for Saturday's (Sunday AEST) meeting with Bayern Munich at Wembley, just as it was when Ottmar Hitzfeld's side beat defending champion Juventus 3-1 to win the title 16 years ago.

The 32-year-old, dubbed the "best non-international goalkeeper" by the German media, said in an interview with Kicker magazine: "Everyone still speaks today with unbelievable admiration about the '97 team.

"Should we now also succeed in lifting the trophy in London, we would probably achieve a similar status.

"Champions League winners - that would be the best for the club and for us."

Weidenfeller, who was in brilliant form in the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, is expected to be in for a busy night at Wembley but claims he is ready for anything Bayern throws at him.

"We have extensive video material," he added. "And moreover we know Bayern. No matter what happens in the final, nothing can surprise us."

Dortmund will be without Bayern-bound playmaker Mario Gotze through injury, but Weidenfeller knows the team can cope without him.

"It goes without saying that with him we have a different quality," he said.

"(But) everything shouldn't rest on him. In the DFB-Pokal final in 2012 Mario also didn't play."

On that occasion, Dortmund ran out 5-2 a winner against Bayern, with the help of a Robert Lewandowski hat-trick.

From 2015, the Europa League winner, as well as the European champion, will qualify automatically for the next season's Champions League, UEFA sources have confirmed.

But if the Europa League is won by an English club, they will no longer take the qualification place of a team finishing fourth in the English Premier League - as happened controversially with Tottenham Hotspur last season when Chelsea won the Champions League, but finished fifth.

The principle was agreed by UEFA's executive committee on Thursday (Friday AEST) today and will be formally announced at the European governing body's Congress in London on Friday.

The move is designed to make the Europa League more attractive and to persuade clubs to take the competition more seriously.

The change to allow a maximum of five clubs also answers concerns from the European Clubs' Association, which felt that the chances of the Europa League winner taking a place away from clubs qualifying via the domestic league was unacceptably high.

In the unlikely event of two clubs from the same country winning the Champions League and Europa League and both finishing outside of the domestic qualifying places, then those teams would still qualify for the Champions League but the side finishing fourth would miss out.

The Europa League final in 2015 will take place in Warsaw, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told a press conference in London.

Bayern is widely considered the favourite for this weekend's all-German showdown at Wembley Stadium, especially since the Bavarian club destroyed Barcelona 7-0 in the sides' two-legged semi-final.

Up against Barcelona's vaunted midfield of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, Bayern's central-midfield duo, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez, were far too strong and provided a solid foundation for the German club's impressive triumph.

Dortmund and Bayern are expected to play similar 4-2-3-1 formations at London's showpiece stadium, which will make the midfield battle crucial as neither side will have an obvious advantage tactically.

Up against Schweinsteiger and Martinez, who combine impressive physical capabilities with accurate passing, Dortmund will need Gundogan to be at the top of his game if it is to ensure Bayern loses its third UEFA Champions League final in four seasons.

Gundogan, who will most-likely start alongside Sven Bender at the base of Dortmund's midfield, is rated by Borussia's head coach Juergen Klopp as one of the best passers in his team.

"We got him [in May 2011] and he has turned into a real strategist," Klopp told UEFA.com.

"It is extraordinary. Not many players can do that.

"Many players can play in a small space, play fast and do a lot of great things but to have such vision, such a passing game, such an eye for the situation, is extraordinary and makes him an extraordinary player."

Bayern head coach Jupp Heynckes should be confident his team can overcome Dortmund in the English capital as it has had the better of Klopp's men throughout the season.

Since last season's German Cup final, when Dortmund beat Bayern 5-2, Heynckes' side has won two of four meetings with the Westfalenstadion club, with the other two matches ending in a stalemate as the Bavarians clinched the Bundesliga title by 25 points.

Dortmund hosted Bayern earlier this month in the Bundesliga with Kevin Grosskreutz and Mario Gomez scoring in a 1-1 draw as both coaches gave some of their key players a rest.

In a huge blow for Dortmund, attacking midfielder Mario Goetze, who will join Bayern next season, has been ruled out of the final with a hamstring injury he suffered in the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.

In one corner stands Bayern; German football royalty, and the Bundesliga's dominant force of the past 40 years.

In the other corner stands Dortmund, which has captured neutral hearts with its humble, wise-cracking coach, Jurgen Klopp, and a team committed to smothering opponents with breathless attacking football.

Dortmund upset the balance of power in Germany by winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 - a run that included five straight wins over Bayern - only for the Bavarians to storm back and win the league in record-breaking style this season.

Although Dortmund finished a 25 points behind Bayern in the Bundesliga, the club has demonstrated its pedigree in the Champions League - topping a group that contained Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax, and then routing Madrid again for good measure in the semi-finals.

But while the final at Wembley should represent a tussle for total supremacy in German football, Bayern's recent acquisition of Dortmund's star playmaker Mario Goetze - with a €37 million ($49.5 million) release clause - suggests the odds remain stacked in its favour.

Bayern is also expected to win the race to sign Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski, who scored all four goals in his side's 4-1 blitz of Madrid in the semi-finals.

Klopp said the news of Goetze's imminent departure hit him "like a heart attack", but he takes solace in his club's more organic approach to transfer dealings.

"We are not a supermarket, but they want our players because they know we cannot pay them the same money," he told British newspaper The Guardian.

"It could not be our way to do things like Real and Bayern and not think about taxes - and let the next generation pick up our problems."

Klopp has also accused Bayern of imitating Dortmund's high-octane tactics, having likened it to a Chinese industrialist shamelessly copying the techniques of his rivals. His comments prompted a stiff rebuke from Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.

"When Jurgen one day gets the pleasure of coaching Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, he will realise what it means and how much it is a completely different world," he said.

"Bayern have existed for longer than Jurgen Klopp has been a coach and have always had their own style of playing."

Barbs have been exchanged between the teams with mounting regularity.

Given the current animosity, it now seems extraordinary that Bayern gave Dortmund an interest-free loan of €2 million ($2.7 million) in 2004 to help it stave off the threat of insolvency.

It was a gesture of pure solidarity, but from grateful beneficiaries, Dortmund has grown into feared a rival, and Klopp says his club is no longer content to exist in Bayern's shadow.

"Maybe when other teams play Bayern, they are shown a bit too much respect," he said.

"We have caused them problems with our counter-attacking game in the past and have developed over the years into a major competitor and a real rival.

"Which is exactly what we want to be in the final."

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder has lost his battle to be fit for what would have been his last game for the club ahead of his €37million ($49million) move to Bayern.

Gotze suffered a hamstring injury in the semi-final second-leg against Real Madrid and suffered a setback in his recovery when he had to cut short his first training session back with the team.

"The final was my big goal and I've been working really hard over the last few weeks," Gotze said.

"I'm really sorry I won't be able to help the team in such an important game, but I believe in the squad and of course I'll be travelling to London to support the lads from the sidelines."

The 24-year-old was operated on by renowned knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman in Colorado on Monday.

A club statement said: "Due to extensive ruptures, the player's cruciate ligament is no longer functional and was removed. Before the cruciate can be reconstructed using a surgical tissue graft replacement, the incisions and holes from the original op must heal completely.

"Until then, Holger Badstuber will maintain his physical fitness in sports rehab. The doctors in charge of the case estimate the player will be fit again in around 10 months. The injury is not career-threatening."

Badstuber last week suffered his second cruciate ligament rupture this season, having only returned to training following the initial injury in December.

The Dutchman, who is involved in his 11th straight season in the Champions League, has been on the losing side twice in the final in the past three seasons, while he also lost out in a FIFA World Cup final for Netherlands and the final of the DFB-Pokal last northern summer.

The disappointment of losing to Chelsea last May and Inter Milan two years previously is spurring him and his team-mates on to ensure it is a case of third time lucky at the weekend.

"Most of us were in the side which lost in 2010 and 2012 and that explains why so many of us are hungry for this title," he said in Munich.

"We now want to win this title."

Bayern will go into the final as favourite having stormed to the Bundesliga title in record fashion.

It left Dortmund 25 points in its wake, smashing the points record Dortmund had set last season by 10 and losing only once.

It also ended a five-game losing streak to Dortmund by beating it in the German Super Cup and the DFB-Pokal, as well as going unbeaten against Jurgen Klopp's men in the league with two 1-1 draws.

With that in mind, Robben says Bayern must go on to the field aware that it is stronger and without making any alterations to the way it has played all season.

"That's very important," he said.

"When we are on the field this week, we must not start doing things differently.

"We shouldn't go to bed earlier, eat differently. We just have to do precisely the same things we've been doing all season, because we were very successful.

"We're experienced and we know what's coming so we will prepare in a very normal way, as we have always done."

By sticking to the normal plan, Robben is convinced he will finally get his hands on the Champions League trophy.

"We must not start thinking that we are not allowed to lose - if we did that, then we may as well give up already," he said.

"I have a good feeling. We are going to do it."

Gotze, who has scored 19 goals this season - more than his last two campaigns combined - tore his hamstring during the second leg of the semi-final against Real Madrid and is still rated doubtful for Saturday evening's (Sunday morning AEST) showpiece.

He started light training just over a week ago and appeared to take a step up on Tuesday when he followed an individual training session in the morning by joining his team-mates in the afternoon.

But Bild reported that Gotze had been forced to pull out of that second session when he felt the problem again.

General manager Michael Zorc was quoted by the newspaper as saying: "Mario has felt something again in his hamstring. That is why he stopped. We don't know how bad it is and whether he is still suffering from it."

It leaves in question Gotze's chances of playing against the club he will be joining in July after a 37 million euros ($48.77 million) transfer was agreed upon last month.

And Gotze is not Klopp's only concern with Mats Hummels, a man who switched between the two Bundesliga giants in the opposite direction in 2008, labouring with an ankle injury.

His chances of a recovery from an injury he picked up only on Saturday are significantly greater, though.

"Nothing is torn so it is not as bad as first feared," Hummels told Sport Bild magazine.

"I'm confident I'll be ready for the final."

Even without Gotze, Bayern Munich legend Lothar Matthaus believes Dortmund has a good chance of triumphing at Wembley and denying his former club a historic treble this season.

Bayern won the Bundesliga in record-breaking style and faces Stuttgart in the final of the DFB-Pokal on 1 June.

"The big question is whether he can play, but then the question is how fit he is," said Matthaus to Sky television.

"He has not played for the past three-and-a-half weeks. I would say Mario cannot be 100 per cent fit.

"If anything, then maybe he could take his place on the bench next to Jurgen Klopp because Dortmund are not reliant on Gotze.

"It would also be his last game for Borussia against his future club so it would not be easy for Mario Gotze and it would not be easy for Borussia Dortmund, and it would not be easy for Jurgen Klopp either."

The 24-year-old, who is fighting to shake off an ankle injury to allow him to face his former club Bayern Munich at Wembley, has been linked with a move to Barcelona and even back to Bayern in the northern summer.

However, he has pledged his future to Dortmund by telling Kicker magazine that he will still be wearing a yellow and black shirt next season.

"I've not had any contact with Barcelona or any other club," he said.

"I don't think it's my duty to dismiss rumours which other people invent.

"If there was to be any truth in them, I would say so. If I say that there is nothing behind the speculation, then people should believe me."

When asked whether Saturday will be his last game for Dortmund, Hummels replied: "Of course not."

Hummels joined Dortmund from Bayern in 2008 after making just a single appearance for the Bavarian side, in the 5-2 win over Mainz on the final day of the 2006/07 season.

His initial loan spell with the Westphalian outfit was made permanent in 2009 and he has been an almost ever-present since.

The 41-year-old Italian has been an international referee since 2007 and was in charge of the 2010 Europa League final between Fulham Athletic and Atletico Madrid in Hamburg, as well as three matches at Euro 2012.

Rizzoli will be assisted by his fellow Italians Renato Faverani and Andrea Stefani. The fourth official will be Damir Skomina from Slovenia and the two additional assistant referees, Gianluca Rocchi and Paolo Tagliavento are also from Italy.

The Gunners ended the Barclays Premier League campaign with an astonishing undefeated run of eight wins from the final 10 matches to move back ahead of north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and seal a top-four finish following the 1-0 victory at Newcastle.

Arsenal will, of course, still has to negotiate a potentially tricky two-legged qualifier in August before it can focus on a remarkable 16th campaign of elite European football.

However, with that now very much on the horizon, the club can move into the summer break with a completely different outlook from the one it faced when slipping seven points behind Spurs after defeat at White Hart Lane on March 3.

France international Koscielny, whose second half goal at St James' Park proved crucial, feels everyone deserves great credit for the superb collective effort over the run-in.

"The team played well and gave themselves for the team.

"We are all good players and we want to play Champions League. It is a big competition. We did the job and we are happy."

Manager Arsene Wenger feels his side has gone some way to answering its critics following its end to what had been a frustrating campaign - including the lows of cup defeats by Bradford City and Blackburn Rovers, before a Champions League masterclass from Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium only to then outplay the Germans when winning the second leg of the last-16 tie.

"The exceptional attitude and determination of this group of players has been rewarded," Wenger said.

"They continued to believe when we were seven points behind Tottenham in mid-March. [They knew] that we had no room for error any more and you could never see any sign of giving in."

Wenger feels Arsenal can use its experiences over the past two months to hit the ground running in the quest to finally end its long trophy drought in 2013/2014.

Arsenal will be proactive in the summer transfer market, with the free transfer of France Under-21 forward Yaya Sanogo from Auxerre expected to be the first of several new arrivals.

Wenger is understood to have targeted offensive additions this summer, with the likes of Fiorentina's Stevan Jovetic, Real Madrid frontman Gonzalo Higuain and even England forward Wayne Rooney all said to be on the Arsenal manager's radar, as is Borussia Dortmund defender Lukasz Piszczek and even Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who is set to leave relegated Queens Park Rangers.

Wenger, though, warned finding the right man at the right price is set to be another test.

"We have been remarkably consistent. We won every away game so it's a good springboard for next season, to transfer that belief into the start of next season, that means we need stability and to strengthen our group if possible," he said.

"However, there are many clubs out there with a lot of money so the competition is very hard - there is not as much talent as money today in football.

"England midfielder Jack Wilshere, meanwhile, is now set for surgery on his troublesome ankle, which while ruling him out of the friendlies against the Republic of Ireland and Brazil, should see the 21-year-old return fully fit for the start of the new season and the autumn World Cup qualifiers.

Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp revealed it would be "tight" whether the defender, who was so impressive in the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid, would be fit for the meeting with Bayern Munich at Wembley.

"His ankle is a bit swollen. There is a chance for Wembley, but it will be tight," Klopp told the Dortmund website.

There was better news regarding Bayern-bound Mario Gotze, though, who suffered a hamstring tear at the Bernabeu.

The club said it looked "good" for the 20-year-old, who will resume full training on Tuesday.

The second season of a two-year suspension on Malaga competing in European competition has been lifted by UEFA after the Spanish club proved it has no outstanding debts to other clubs, employees or tax authorities.

Malaga reached the quarter-finals in its first season in the UEFA Champions League but is currently banned from competing in Europe next season because UEFA in December found it was in breach of new financial fair play rules.

It was given until March 31 to show it had cleared those overdue debts to avoid being banned for another season.

However, the club confirmed on that UEFA had now accepted it has complied with those requirements.

"Malaga football club has today received communication from UEFA that its financial control committee has confirmed that, after an analysis of the situation of the Martiricos club on 31 March, 2013, it leaves without effect the second conditional year of suspension against the Andalusian club," a statement read on the club's website.

The club is also appealing the initial decision taken by UEFA.

It is taking that case to the Court of Arbitration (CAS) for Sport in a bid to get the entire ban overturned.

Malaga has been awarded a licence from the Spanish Football Federation to play in Europe next season should that appeal be successful.

"This decision and the awarding of the licence ratify what the club already expressed when our compliance was put in doubt," said Chief Executive Officer Vicente Casado.

"We have worked and we will continue to do so because we are very optimistic looking to the future."

A decision from the CAS is expected to be announced on June 4.

The head of European football's governing body says the German sides, who meet at London's Wembley stadium on May 25, are an example for other clubs to follow.

"You don't have to make losses and shortfalls to be in the Champions League final. It's the proof that you can have a clean, virtuous, moral game that everyone wants," Platini told AFP in Amsterdam on Wednesday.

"Yes, the Champions League finalists are model pupils, they're not in the red, they've got good stadiums and what's more they're winning. It's a very good image."

Concern about heavy spending, particularly at major European clubs, prompted UEFA to introduce Financial Fair Play rules, threatening tough sanctions, including suspension from European competitions, for sides that spend more than they earn.

The rules are designed to ensure a more level playing field and prevent wealthy clubs from having an unfair advantage over smaller sides.

Platini believes the rules have prompted a change in attitude among clubs to get their finances in order.

He says no club, no matter how big, will be exempt from punishment.

Spanish side Malaga, beaten quarter-finalists in this year's Champions League, was the first major casualty of the system.

Last December, the Qatari-owned club's failure to pay players and other clubs on time saw it banned from European competition the next time they qualify.

It could face a second year-long ban if it fails to honour its debts, although Malaga has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Bayern lifted its 23rd domestic league title aloft on Saturday and, with one game of the season remaining, the Bundesliga is slowly losing appeal and significance to the London finalists.

Dortmund has already secured second spot and its place in the Champions League next season and both sides are likely to field weakened sides next Saturday.

Their priorities now are Wembley and, for Bayern, the chance to win the second trophy of a potential treble, and for Dortmund, the opportunity to win silverware for a third season running.

The fifth meeting between the two sides this season is going to be the most important of them all, and Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp believes there is nothing to choose between them.

"The difference between Bayern and us is not so great that I would not be confident about us being that little bit better in the final," he told Kicker magazine.

"We know that we are good. We also know that we've got to perform to our very, very best if we are to beat Bayern."

After getting the better of the Bavarians in the past two seasons, winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the DFB-Pokal last season, Dortmund has seen Bayern wrestle back superiority this season.

Victory in the pre-season German Supercup was followed by two draws in the league and a 1-0 win in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal.

It has also impressed in Europe, eliminating the likes of Arsenal, Juventus and Barcelona on the way to the final, but Klopp still believes that, over 90 or 120 minutes in London, his side has nothing to fear.

"We are uncomfortable opponents for anybody on this planet," he said.

And Klopp plans to make it an uncomfortable few weeks for Bayern too by "reminding them now and again that it has lost one or two big finals" in recent years.

Gotze will resume jogging next week and join the squad for regular practices.

Klopp says 'one week of jogging and one week of training with the team is optimal'.

Gotze injured his left hamstring in the return leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. Dortmund advanced 4-3 on aggregate.

The final in Wembley will be Gotze's last game for Dortmund, before he moves to Bayern. The 20-year-old is considered Germany's top prospect.

Dortmund received 502,567 requests for tickets by Sunday's deadline for the open draw, with priority given to members and season-ticket holders.

Bayern received about 250,000 orders for tickets with only members allowed to apply.

Chances of receiving a coveted ticket are slim for fans, with each club being allocated just under 25,000 seats for the UEFA showcase.

Tickets for Wembley cost between 72 and 396 euros ($92.61 and $509.35) and each successful applicant is limited to a maximum of two by both clubs.

Bayern's draw is open only to fans who are registered members of the Bavarian giant's 3,000 different supporters groups.

"Due to the large numbers of orders, it is not possible to make it an open draw for all fans, a strict criteria and a drawing of lots is the only fair way of dividing up the allocation," said a Bayern Munich spokesman.

This is the first time two German clubs have reached the European Cup final.

Bayern, which beat Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in its two-legged semi-final, is through to its third final in four seasons but last won the Champions League title back in 2001.

Dortmund, which beat Real Madrid in the last four, is in its first final since winning the trophy in 1997.

Airline company German Wings is arranging chartered flights from Dortmund and Cologne/Bonn airports on the day of the Wembley final for supporters.

Four-time reigning world player of the year Messi had struggled for fitness in the build-up and was an unused substitute at the Nou Camp for the 3-0 second-leg defeat to Bayern Munich, which sealed a crushing 7-0 aggregate loss.

Laudrup graced the Nou Camp as a player between 1989 and 1994, winning the European Cup in 1992, and feels the Catalan club has become too dependent on the Argentina forward.

"When they saw Messi was on the bench nobody thought it was possible to see a comeback (after a 4-0 first-leg defeat)," the Dane said.

"They have a great team but it's a little bit worrying that everything is related to the ability of Messi. Even if he is the best player in the world, it can be a problem."

Bayern advanced to a Wembley final against Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund, which saw off Real Madrid in the other semi-final, but Laudrup thinks it is too early to suggest the German teams' success heralds a new era for European club football.

He added: "I know this is the year of the German sides and there are a lot of questions.

"Is it the end of Spanish football dominating? Are English sides struggling? We have to look to next year for the answers.

"If Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are in the final in 12 months time and there are no English sides in the quarter-finals then we might have a new trend."

Barca established itself as the leading side on the planet during a stunning run of success that saw it win 14 trophies in four years under Pep Guardiola.

It also look poised to reclaim the Primera Division title this season in Tito Vilanova's first campaign in charge, but while the club may be top dog in Spain, it no longer appears to be the dominant force in Europe after being humiliated by the Bavarians.

However, although Xavi concedes Bayern was a class apart in sealing its final spot with a 7-0 aggregate win, the Spain international still sees a bright future for Barca.

"I think so, yes. There's no need to be drastic. The team has a future, we've competed very well up until now. I'm always optimistic and this team has the desire," he told Canal Plus.

"We've not been able to get through the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey and Champions League [but] I think we have the team to carry on.

"On Sunday we have another competition."

Barca could replace Real Madrid as Spanish champion this weekend and its players are now focusing on that match in a bid to banish their European misery.

Midfielder Cesc Fabregas said: "The players are hurt, we have to react and win La Liga as soon as possible.

"We went up against a very strong Bayern, their counters with [Franck] Ribery and [Arjen] Robben were very hard to stop. But we are Barca, we don't make excuses."

Defender Dani Alves added on his club's website: "We have to thank the fans for their support and promise them that we will return.

"The fans understand football and they know that when you get knocked down you get up and you keep on fighting.

"We still have that hunger to keep on winning and the fact that we were eliminated in the semi-finals proves that. We don't make excuses. If your opponent is better than you, you get eliminated."

Bayern will now face fellow German side Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley on May 25 after it overcame Real Madrid over two legs.

Die Welt's editorial said the semi-final results had given Germany a "reason to be proud", with a German winner for the first time in 12 years now guaranteed.

It added: "Bayern humiliated their opponents for the second time in the space of a week, doing the things which had set Barcelona apart, only better."

German tabloid newspaper Bild wrote: "For the first time in the history of the Champions League, there will be an all-German final. It was a demonstration of power against what once was the best team in the world."

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hailed a "dream final", continuing the general feeling that Bayern and Dortmund have "humiliated" Spanish football.

"Fussball is coming home" found its way onto the front page of the Suddeutsche Zeitung, which dedicated several pages to Bayern's monumental triumph.

Arjen Robben's goal to make it 1-0 put the victory beyond any doubt, so much so that, according to the Suddeutsche, "anybody who still believed Bayern would be eliminated would also believe that they would start driving on the right in England".

In contrast to the euphoria and acclaim of the German press, the media in Spain were understandably less impressed by the performances from a Barca side which has widely been regarded as the best team in the world over the past five years.

Catalan-based daily Sport led with the headline "Barca, humiliated and out of Europe", adding in its copy: "Barcelona said goodbye to the Champions League in the cruellest and most painful way possible: suffering another heavy defeat against Bayern who, on aggregate, have unloaded on them 7-0."

El Mundo Deportivo, which is also based in Barcelona, preferred to praise "great" Bayern with its headline but was also far from complimentary about the performance of Tito Vilanova's side, who the paper described in its copy as "impotent" against the German outfit and lacking belief it could overturn the 4-0 first-leg deficit without Lionel Messi, who was an unused substitute having struggled with a hamstring problem in recent weeks.

The paper also said: "Tito Vilanova's team surprisingly eased off in the second half thinking already about the league," referring to the fact Barca could clinch the Primera Division title this weekend.

The two Madrid-based sports papers, Marca and AS, followed a similar line as they both hailed Bayern while describing Barca as: "impotent", "humiliated by a cyclone", "grey, without bite, inane and soulless".

The TWG UEFA Champions League pod reviews the UEFA Champions League semi-final second legs and despite a small win for Spain it's an all-German final at Wembley.

Host David Basheer is joined by David Zdrilic, Australia's number 9 and a Bundesliga officiano, Roberto Arocha and Stuart Randall.

Bayern Munich munched on what was left of a Lionel Messi-less Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

Jose Mourinho somehow managed to hog the limelight yet again after his Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund - but lost anyway.

TWG UCL Podcast - Semi-finals 2nd leg by SBS The World Game

Don't have time to listen to the pod now? You can subscribe via iTunes or any other podcasting software by simply following the link here, and clicking the orange 'RSS' button in the top right corner.

Newly-crowned Bundesliga champion Bayern prevailed 3-0 at the Nou Camp to seal an emphatic 7-0 aggregate triumph over the Catalan club and set up an all-German Wembley final against Borussia Dortmund.

Watch the UEFA Champions League Final LIVE on SBS ONE and in HD and streamed online on Sunday 26 May from 4:15am AEST.

Leading 4-0 from the first leg, the Bavarian side was similarly clinical in Catalunya with second-half goals from Arjen Robben, Gerard Pique - who put through his own net - and Thomas Muller sealing a one-sided win over a sorry Barca side for which Messi was an unused substitute.

"Messi felt good against Athletic Bilbao (last weekend), but in the final minutes of the game at San Mames he noticed a strange feeling," Vilanova said of the four-time reigning world player of the year. "He's not injured, but he felt he could pick up an injury.

"Yesterday he trained, and also today ... but he did not feel well. He's an explosive player and he could break. So, maybe he could not help the team."

Vilanova, speaking at his post-match press conference, acknowledged the tie had been lost in Bavaria last week.

"To lose, that can pass, but to lose 3-0 at home and 7-0 overall ... It is clear this is not the tie we wanted," he said "If we had arrived at 100 per cent, it could have been different. I believe the first leg weighed heavily on us. I do not want to recall how they got those goals."

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes acknowledged that the absence of Argentina forward Messi had had an effect but felt it should not detract from his side's achievement.

He said on German television channel ZDF: "Messi's (absence) surprised us and, even though it's clear that we've had an excellent game, you need to accept that Barcelona are one thing with Messi another without Messi.

"If we look at the whole tie, we've won 7-0. That couldn't be more clear and now we have to enjoy it."

Barca president Sandro Rosell, who was quick to congratulate Bayern and accepted the Bundesliga champion had been 'clearly the superior side', backed coach Vilanova's decision not to risk Messi with the tie out of reach.

"If the best player in the world isn't on the pitch, it's noticeable," he told www.fcbarcelona.cat

"At any rate, I am very proud of all of the players, managers, members and fans. They proved that they know how to win and how to lose.

"If they (Barca management) decided that he shouldn't play, it was a purely technical decision. Nothing else to say."

Heynckes, meanwhile, played down speculation linking him with a return to Real Madrid after his side's stunning success at the Nou Camp.

The 67-year-old, who will step down from his post in the northern summer to be replaced by former Barca boss Pep Guardiola, occupied the Bernabeu hotseat in 1997-1998 and has been touted as a possible successor to Jose Mourinho should the Real boss depart in the northern summer.

But Heynckes insisted after the game that he has not had his head turned by the prospect of a second spell in the Spanish capital.

"I turn 68 on May 9," he said. "I've spent 50 years in football as a player and coach and some day you have to think that's enough.

"Madrid have not been in contact with me.

"Logically, my team this year has been playing at a world-class level and for that reason reporters speculate about my future, but it won't influence my decision after June 1."

Leading 4-0 from the first leg, Bayern stunned Barca with a comprehensive 3-0 victory in the return meeting at the Nou Camp thanks to second-half goals from Robben, Gerard Pique - who put through his own net - and Thomas Muller.

The victory saw Bayern set up a mouthwatering Wembley final against Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund- the competition's first all-German final - and Robben is hoping his side can go one better than it did in 2010 and last year by winning the showpiece.

Watch the UEFA Champions League Final LIVE on SBS ONE and in HD and streamed online on Sunday 26 May from 4:15am AEST.

The former Real Madrid winger told Sky Sports 2: "Now we're in the final. It's the third time in the last four years, but it's time to win it now!

"It's going to be a big one. Dortmund have proven over the last two, three years that they are a very good side. It's going to be a big game again which will be decided by the small details."

The Netherlands international added of their Nou Camp victory: "I think it's a terrific performance - a little bit of history maybe.

"You're playing against a team who have dominated Europe over the last five years and there's so much quality in their squad, and to win 4-0 at home and 3-0 away, especially this one away in their own stadium, it's amazing."

Robben refused to get too carried away with the success, though.

Asked if he felt Bayern was now the team to beat in Europe, he said: "I think we have to stay calm.

"At this moment we're playing some great football. We have to enjoy this moment, just stay calm, play our football and try to improve over and over again."

Barcelona midfielder Xavi lauded Bayern as 'extraordinary' and believes it thoroughly deserved its place in the final.

The Spain international also refused to use his side's numerous absentees as a reason for its convincing defeat.

Barca was without senior players Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano, Eric Abidal and Sergio Busquets through injury while Jordi Alba was suspended and Lionel Messi, who has been struggling with a hamstring problem in recent weeks, was an unused substitute.

Xavi told Canal Plus: "Right now they (Bayern) are at an extraordinary level. They have been better and very much deserve to be in the finals.

"Physically, we've been in bad shape with regards to players missing. Busquets, Abidal, Puyol, Mascherano ... they are important players. But neither is that an excuse. Bayern have been better. Mentally strong, physically extraordinary."

Messi scored as a second-half substitute in the weekend Primera Division draw with Athletic Bilbao but coach Tito Vilanova opted only to name him on the bench here.

The likelihood of Messi then appearing at some point dwindled as Bayern clinically put the tie beyond its host and in the end Vilanova decided against throwing his star forward into the fray.

Defender Pique doubts even Messi could have saved Barca from defeat, though.

He told reporters: "It's clear it's not the same without Messi, but we went out with the intention of scoring a quick goal. We had a good first half, but the decision about him playing or not didn't influence things. The result would've been the same."

The former Manchester United man added: "When a team is so superior you simply have to congratulate them.

"Maybe it's my most bitter night at Barcelona. We've tried, but they scored right at the start of the second half and that hurt us. The last 25 minutes were tough."

Pique is now keen to put the semi-final exit behind it, turning his focus to this weekend's clash with Real Betis where Barca could clinch the Primera Division title.

"Now we need prepare for the league and finish it off as soon as possible, and then make some decisions for next season," he said.

Leading 4-0 from the first leg, Bayern was similarly clinical at the Nou Camp with second-half goals from Arjen Robben, Gerard Pique - who put through his own net - and Thomas Muller sealing a one-sided 3-0 win over a sorry Barca side for which Lionel Messi was an unused substitute.

The victory sees Bayern through to its third final in four years and it will hope to improve on its runner-up finishes against Inter Milan in 2010 and Chelsea last year when it faces Real Madrid's conqueror Dortmund - in the competition's first all-German final.

Watch the UEFA Champions League Final LIVE on SBS ONE and in HD and streamed online on Sunday 26 May from 4:15am AEST.

Barca was up against it with only three teams ever having overturned a four-goal first-leg deficit in Europe, and its chances of joining that list looked even slimmer after Messi was judged not fit enough to start the game.

The Argentina forward has been struggling with a hamstring problem in recent weeks and, although he scored after appearing as a second-half substitute in last weekend's Primera Division draw with Athletic Bilbao, coach Tito Vilanova opted only to name him on the bench.

Even with Messi in its side, Barca barely troubled Bayern during the first leg, and it was the German champion which dominated the early exchanges here as well.

Robben and Philipp Lahm both looked poised to give Bayern what would almost certainly have been a tie-ending away goal in the opening 20 minutes but Pique produced brilliant last-ditch tackles to deny both players.

Barca's first serious threat on goal came in the 24th minute when Pedro Rodriguez saw his 30-yard drive tipped over by Manuel Neuer as it arrowed towards the top corner.

Two minutes later Xavi volleyed a decent opening over from seven yards out while Adriano drew a relatively comfortable save from Neuer in the 40th minute, but those were rare moments of concern for Bayern in the opening period.

Barca remained unchanged at the start of the second half with Messi continuing on the bench, but any hopes the world's best player might later inspire an unlikely fightback disappeared three minutes after the restart as Bayern took the lead.

Robben picked up a long cross-field pass from David Alaba near the right touchline before racing into the area where he cut inside Adriano onto his favoured left foot and curled an unstoppable shot past Victor Valdes inside the far post.

That away goal left Barca needing to score six times to go through to a fourth final in eight years, and it proved well beyond it.

With the tie gone, Vilanova opted to keep Messi under wraps and his first two changes saw him send on Alexis Sanchez and Thiago for Spain duo Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

Despite those changes Bayern continued to look comfortable and it doubled the lead 18 minutes from time.

Franck Ribery got in behind Dani Alves down the left and his cross was sliced into his own net by Pique with Mario Mandzukic lurking behind.

Ribery was also involved four minutes later as Bayern heaped more misery on Barca with a third goal.

The home side had actually come close to making it 2-1 moments earlier when David Villa's glancing header hit the outside of the post, but it was game, set and match for the German side in the 76th minute when Ribery burst past Alex Song before dinking a cross to the far post where Muller climbed highest to head high home.

Shell-shocked Barca tried to find a consolation goal late on but Jupp Heynckes' side held firm to record a 22nd win in its last 23 competitive games and seal its spot in the final.

A 2-0 win at the Bernabeu was not enough to mend the damage of the first leg in Germany as Real lost 4-3 on aggregate to Dortmund.

Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos both scored in the last eight minutes to set up a pulsating finish, but it was not enough for Jose Mourinho's side, who has fallen at the final hurdle for the third year in a row under his guidance.

It is now thought the Portuguese will not lead them into next season's campaign after he strongly hinted he wants to return to England, with Chelsea mentioned as a potential suitor.

There is silverware on offer before then, though, and Ronaldo believes if they show the same desire against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey final on May 17 the result will be different.

"We scored late. There were five minutes of added time but we couldn't turn it around," he told realmadrid.com.

"I think the first match was key because four goals are a lot in the Champions League, but the team were focused on trying to reach the final.

"We scored two goals but we could have had four or five, (Gonzalo) Higuain, (Mesut) Ozil and I had chances in the first half.

"We showed that we are better than them. We're a bit sad because we thought we could have been in the final.

"The Copa del Rey is a different competition. It will be a different match and if we go out with the same desire I am sure that we will win".

Ronaldo also played down talk of him leaving the Primera Division club, after manager Mourinho hinted he could return to England.

The Real striker said: "I have two years of contract and I'm not worried about my renewal."

However, after three years of just falling short, Ronaldo is keen to pay back fans and make it to the Champions League final for them next season.

"The team fought hard and the fans were amazing," he added.

"They were very supportive. It spurred me on and we tried everything.

"We are grateful for what they did. We're sorry that we could not give the fans the joy that they deserved.

"We fought to the end and I'm sure that next year we'll be there".

Messi was thoroughly overshadowed at the Allianz Arena a week ago as Bayern romped to a 4-0 win in the semi-final first leg, leaving Barca needing to stage the greatest fightback the competition has seen to make the final at Wembley.

The Argentinian has been troubled by a hamstring injury, which appeared to affect him in Munich, but he came off the bench and scored against Athletic Bilbao at the weekend.

Vilanova said: "The more in form he is the better our chances of getting to the final, but we can't heap this kind pressure on him, we have to try to help him.

"A player as good as Messi, at this point in the competition, will have things to say in tomorrow's match."

Bayern has won its last 10 games in all competitions and is now a firm favourite to win the Champions League, but Vilanova says his team believes it can come back.

Barca won 4-0 against AC Milan at the Nou Camp in the last-16, although that was to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit.

Vilanova said: "We believe we can fight back, it's our obligation and we're convinced (it's possible).

"We know that it will be very difficult, but we are Barca and we can never give up on a tie, especially when we have 90 minutes of play at home.

"We have to hold our heads high if we are eliminated. We cannot give up, we need to make our fans proud."

Defender Gerard Pique added: "The only team that can overcome a 4-0 to Bayern Munich is this club."

Vilanova also emphasised the need for patience, pointing out Bayern only led 1-0 at half-time in the first game.

And he called on the Nou Camp faithful to play their part and create an atmosphere every bit as partisan as Bayern enjoyed last week.

"If we are going to mount a comeback we need our fans. Both Bayern and Borussia (Dortmund, who won 4-1 at home to Real Madrid in its semi-final first leg) had extraordinary atmospheres last week and that carried the teams forward.

"We will do our part so that fans find it easier to do theirs."

Barca will definitely be without defender Javier Mascherano through injury, while midfielder Sergio Busquets is a doubt with a slight groin problem.

Bayern faces Barcelona on Wednesday evening (Thursday morning AEST) armed with a 4-0 semi-final, first-leg advantage and is odds-on favourite to make the Wembley showpiece next month.

Doing so would be a remarkable achievement given how last year's tournament ended up. Techincally at home to Chelsea in a Munich final, Heynckes side was beaten on penalties as its dream fell apart around it.

But once the debris was swept up, Bayern was able to regroup and has marched its way back to the brink of European glory.

"When you experience a final like we did against Chelsea, then you understand all the consequences," Heynckes said.

"Some clubs give up, but everyone at Bayern reacted in a very positive way. We made changes, signed good players, modified some things, and strengthened the team spirit."

Regardless of Barcelona's prowess and standing as the best team of its generation, Bayern is not expected to be overturned.

For Heynckes, though, the challenge is to prove that last week's result was not a one-off.

"We have to take into account the rival. We have our philosophy on football and this season we have proved that Bayern is a great team playing top quality football. We have our culture and we are capable of scoring goals tomorrow at the Camp Nou," he said in his pre-match media conference.

"We can't think too much about the first-leg result. After the match we can evaluate things, but I cannot say which team is the better one. Barcelona have played at such a high level for so many years. Bayern want to prove that the match in Munich wasn't a one-off."

A minor cold for defender Dante is the sum of Heynckes fitness worries heading to Catalonia.

It is an area he knows well after time in charge of Real Madrid in the past and he has fond memories of coaching in the country.

He said: "When you coach big teams in Spain, you also incorporate that culture to understand everything better. I know I can return to Spain whenever I want.

"I won the Champions League with Real Madrid and I also had great achievements with Athletic. In Barcelona, there's a huge sporting culture, especially after the Olympics. It's a wonderful city with a huge amount of culture, so I love being here."

Bayern was an impressive outfit on the continent a year ago, but has surpassed expectations this season as the Bundesliga enjoys a boom of popularity.

Despite going so close last season, it seems better equipped this time, and midfielder general Bastian Schweinsteiger agrees.

"I think we have a great team compared to last season and all the players are fit for the match," he said.

"That explains why we are where we are. It'll be tough because Barcelona are capable of doing great things, we know that. We have played very well in this season's Champions League. If we score one or two goals we know it'll be even tougher for Barcelona. If we have the chance to attack, we will."

One note of concern for Bayern is that Philipp Lahm, Javi Martinez, Dante, Luis Gustavo and Mario Gomez are a caution away from a one-match ban that would rule them out of any final.

Mourinho's future has been the subject of much speculation after a poor Primera Division campaign that sees it lie 11 points behind arch-rival Barcelona with five games remaining.

The Portuguese has consistently skirted the question regarding his future, but when asked if he would remain in the Spanish capital for next season, he replied: "Maybe not."

He added on ITV1: "I don't know but I want to be where people love me to be."

Amazingly, the ITV reporter cuts Mourinho short before he has a chance to elaborate on where his future lies.

Mourinho's comments will almost certainly put more than one Premier League club on alert.

Manchester City and Chelsea have both been mooted as possible destinations in the past for Mourinho who managed the Blues from June 2004 until September 2007.

The 50-year-old left west London in acrimonious circumstances after a falling out with owner Roman Abramovich although Mourinho remains Chelsea's most successful manager with two Premier League titles and three domestic cup wins.

Mourinho admitted in his post-match press conference: "I know in England I'm loved.

"I'm loved by the fans, I'm loved by the media that treats me in a fair way, criticising me but giving me credit when I deserve it.

"I know I'm loved by some clubs, especially one, and in Spain, the situation is a bit different because some people hate me.

"Many of you are in this room."

Mourinho, who has also coached at Porto and Inter Milan, added he will discuss his future at the end of the current campaign.

Madrid takes on city rival Atletico in the Copa del Rey final next month and Mourinho is focusing on closing the season on a high.

"I didn't make a decision because I have a contract. But more than a contract, because in football contracts you break it when people want to break, is the respect I have for the club and the respect I have for the president," he said.

"That's why I want to play the final, I want to finish the season, I want to try to win the final, I want to try to finish second and at the end of the season I want to sit in front of Florentino Perez - my president, my friend - and decide the best for me.

"I like the club, I like the president, I need to be honest and fair and at the end of the season I speak."

The victory was not enough for Madrid to go through as it went down 4-3 on aggregate, with goals from Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos insufficient for Mourinho's men to progress.

However things may have been different had the Germany centre-half seen red for a disputed handball on the edge of the area.

"In football you win or you lose," he told ITV.

"I think we could (have won). We had a couple of big chances but as a consequence of the way we were playing in the last part of the match where we risked absolutely everything.

"I think today we were a team with character, a team with desire and we thought we could do it.

"I don't forget the first match and in the first match we were very, very bad and we have been punished because of the first leg.

"I am very sad with one of my favourite referees in the world, I am very disappointed. It is a red card for Mats Hummels, he saw it, everybody saw it but in that moment he was not a ref he was a human being. He thought 'if I give him a red card here, he misses the final'."

Hummels admitted he was relieved Dortmund managed to hold off a late surge from Madrid and compared the Spanish giant's onslaught to his own side's defeat of Malaga in the quarter-final - where Jurgen Klopp's men scored twice in injury-time to go through.

"We knew that the crowd gets loud when they score. Second half it seemed that we had the game under control but with the first goal the game changed like it did against Malaga," the defender said.

When asked his feelings about reaching the UEFA Champions League showpiece match at Wembley next month, he added: "It's unbelievable.

"It's something everybody on our team dreamed of as a child and we're all still children so it's unbelievable.

"We're now looking forward to Wembley."

Madrid, trailing 4-1 from the first leg in Germany, looked down and out with the score on the night 0-0 with eight minutes to go, but two quick goals produced a grandstand finish to a pulsating game.

Karim Benzema pulled one back and Sergio Ramos added another in the 88th minute, but Dortmund stood firm amid a frenzied atmosphere to seal a 4-3 aggregate win.

Dortmund was not the thunderous team that delighted football fans around the world with last week's performance, but produced a disciplined showing, with their centre-back pairing Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic particularly impressive.

It is Dortmund's second appearance in the Champions League final after its 1997 triumph, and this time it looks set to be an all-German affair, with Bayern Munich going into its semi-final, second leg against Barcelona leading 4-0.

And it ended Jose Mourinho's hopes of leading Madrid to glory in Europe's top club competition in what could be his last season at the Bernabeu.

Mourinho started with Luka Modric ahead of Sami Khedira in the hope of giving his side more attacking flair, while Angel di Maria returned to the starting line-up, having started the first leg on the bench.

Michael Essien stepped in at right-back, while Pepe, given a torrid time by Roberto Lewandowski in the first game, was left out.

Jurgen Klopp made no changes to the side that produced the blistering performance in the Westfalenstadion, but had to bring on Kevin Grosskreutz after just 14 minutes when Mario Gotze hobbled off injured.

The Madrid players took to the pitch amid a deafening noise, with the chant 'Yes we can' ringing around the stadium.

It began with the intensity the occasion demanded.

It won a corner within the first 30 seconds and Gonzalo Higuain was put through on goal by Modric after just four minutes, but he shot straight at Roman Weidenfeller.

Dortmund's first chance came on 13 minutes, Lewandowski finding his way past Raphael Varane after a throughball by Ilkay Gundogan but the four-goal first-leg hero could only shoot straight at Diego Lopez.

The goalkeeper cleared the ball and barely seconds later Cristiano Ronaldo, who struggled to hit his usual heights, got a glimpse of goal, but Weidenfeller stopped the shot with his right fist.

Mesut Ozil was then presented with a far better chance and had just Weidenfeller to beat after a pass from Modric, but the Germany midfielder aimed his shot a foot wide of the near post.

Dortmund slowly began to settle into the game and closed Madrid down in midfield.

It rode out the first half without ceding any more clear chances to Los Blancos, whose earlier energy fizzled out.

Madrid kept on the attack early in the second half, but left itself very exposed to the counter attack when it surrendered the ball.

Lewandowski blazed over from 10 yards out and moments later crashed a shot against the underside of the crossbar after a pass from Marco Reus, whose pace exploited a committed and increasingly drained Madrid.

Mourinho threw on Kaka and Benzema in place of Fabio Coentrao and Higuain, but neither player could do much to penetrate an energetic and robust Dortmund.

The German side could have wrapped the tie up midway through the second half.

Madrid was outnumbered as Dortmund launched another break and Reus combined with Grosskreutz to play in Gundogan five yards from goal, but Diego Lopez leapt across the goal superbly to keep the shot out.

The home crowd quietened as the game ticked on, losing faith in their side, which produced few clear openings.

Ronaldo headed wide and later shot over the bar from outside the box before Kaka shot wide from inside.

Modric went over in the box after a challenge from a Dortmund defender, but even few Madrid supporters behind the goal believed he should have been given a penalty.

At the other end, Lewandowski was denied his fifth goal in the semi-finals as his shot was blocked by Essien.

All of a sudden, Madrid got itself back in the tie.

Benzema slotted home from close range after a cut back from Ozil with six minutes remaining.

The crowd started to believe the seemingly impossible was on and roared their team on to another attack.

Madrid won a corner soon and Benzema almost got a second, but his shot was tipped over the bar by Weidenfeller.

From the second corner, Ramos smashed his shot into the roof of the net after a cut back from Benzema.

The Bernabeu became a cauldron of noise, but Madrid had just two minutes of normal time, plus five minutes of added time, to get that all important third goal.

Madrid got another corner a minute into stoppage-time. Diego Lopez ran up from his goal to contest it, but the ball fell to Ramos, who headed a few feet wide.

Dortmund sat back and absorbed the final moments of pressure to make it to the 25 May showpiece.

Madrid goes into the semi-final second leg needing to overturn a 4-1 deficit after being outclassed in Germany in the first game.

"It's not a surprise for me that Dortmund are where they are, I thought they were one of the favourites at the start of the tournament," the Portuguese said.

"There is a great structure there, a great tranquility around the team and the coach.

"Both German teams (Dortmund and fellow semi-finalist Bayern Munich, which beat Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg) are very good, without a doubt, as are the national team. There is a generation of players in Germany of great quality and they will be candidates to win the next World Cup."

Klopp, who has described his team's 4-1 first-leg victory over Jose Mourinho's side at the Westfalenstadion as 'formidable', does not think it will get cold feet now.

Asked if his team would freeze in the second leg, he said: "No, I'm sure we won't.

"We played Bayern Munich in the German Cup final last year when we were champions. They really wanted to beat us in the game, as they had all season, and my team was pretty cool in this moment (Dortmund won 5-2).

"The only way to reach your dream is to be brave."

Only one team has been knocked out of the Champions League after winning the first leg 4-1 - AC Milan, which was eliminated by Deportivo La Coruna in 2004 - but Klopp urged caution.

He said: "Real Madrid believe they can come back against us. And, if they believe so, they will act accordingly.

"We are ready for Real Madrid to try everything they can and we do not feel that we are already in the final.

"We feel the first-leg result was much better than expected. We know we will have to fight tomorrow with our best strengths. We know we are not a normal semi-finalist and will behave accordingly."

Dortmund rested a host of star names in the Bundesliga at the weekend to save them for the match in Madrid, with Robert Lewandowski, the four-goal hero from the first leg, only coming on late in the 2-1 win at Fortuna Dusseldorf.

The club has the lowest wage bill and the least expensively-assembled squad of the four semi-finalists, but has earned widespread praise for its attractive football. It is the only team to not lose a match in the entire Champions League campaign so far.

"It is a relatively easy philosophy," Klopp added.

"We need to defend well if we are to score many goals. It is easy, the team needs to play together closely, in a very solid way.

"It is important to keep our discipline. If we score a goal we need to defend it, but we need to be daring. We need to score a second. That is the idea we have day by day.

"We've had this idea for a long time. It is not only my idea, it is the idea of the whole team. I haven't invented football."

Klopp also emphasised his team's strengths as a collective and claimed it had been confident of making it this far in the competition when the campaign began last September.

"At the beginning of the season we were already feeling like this," he said. "Last year we played wonderfully in the Champions League, but we weren't successful [it was eliminated at the group stages].

"We have already started to dream about this, but I think this happens to all other teams in the competition, they all dream of the final.

"We have the feeling of a very good team.

"We know the best team with the individual qualities does not win. The team with best collective quality wins."

Klopp finished the pre-match press conference by talking about how far the club has come in recent years, in stark comparison to its plight in 2005, when it was on the brink of going out of business.

"No-one could have imagined this a few years ago, but tomorrow we have to focus on the game," he said.

"We haven't achieved anything yet. We are only halfway there. In football everything is possible. Something historic will happen tomorrow."

Real heads into Tuesday evening's (Wednesday morning AEST) match 4-1 down after it was outplayed by Jurgen Klopp's side at the Westfalenstadion.

Robert Lewandowski scored all of Dortmund's goals and Mourinho felt his players did not mark him properly, and even complained they did not commit fouls against the Poland striker.

"My team only does legal things and only can do legal things," he said.

"We are so pure and so naive that Lewandowski scored four goals and we didn't foul him even once. They (Dortmund) fouled Cristiano (Ronaldo) five times as soon as the game began.

"How can you play 90 minutes and not commit a foul on a player who scored four goals?"

Mourinho expressed reservations about the team's chances of qualifying for the final, but still believes it is possible if it learns from its mistakes.

"I respect the history of this club but I never like to be in this situation, especially with a scoreline like that, when you start 1-4 behind. It's difficult to mathematically justify that we have a chance," he said.

"If we play like we did in Dortmund then it's difficult to see us doing it, but if we play the same way we have played in many games and we have the spirit to win a great game we will do it.

"We are an excellent team and we have excellent players. We are going to play to try and go through. We have to go for it right until the end of the game. Football is football and everything is possible."

Madrid beat rival Atletico 2-1 at the weekend and Mourinho would like to see that performance replicated against Dortmund.

"I want my team to play with mental strength," he said.

"I have read that Saturday's game was boring but for me it was an example of how to be a compact, united and an aggressive team all working together for one objective."

Defender Sergio Ramos declared that the team was motivated to make amends for its disappointing performance in Dortmund.

"We can't wait for the game to arrive," he said.

"There is a desire in the dressing room to get revenge and stay in the competition."

Ramos, who will be the team's captain, called on the fans that will be in the Bernabeu to make an extra effort but emphasised that ultimately it is down to the players to reverse its fortunes.

"You have to do your talking on the pitch," he said.

"Of course it is a boost to be able to play at home and have the fans roaring us on till the death. They can lift us, but that'll be no use if we aren't concentrated. It's up to us."

Mourinho will have Ronaldo at his disposal with the Portugal international fully recovered from the thigh injury which forced him to miss the derby win at Atletico.

And while the former Manchester United man will be an obvious selection, Mourinho hinted at some surprise inclusions.

He added: "In Dortmund the team was obvious, except for the problem with (Angel) Di Maria. It was a no brainer and everyone knew what it would be.

"Tomorrow the situation is different and we could play with certain people that we do not normally play with and with an unusual system.

"So I will not say anything. Cristiano Ronaldo is fine. Arbeloa and Marcelo are injured and the rest are available."

Barcelona has the daunting task of overturning its 4-0 loss at Bayern Munich in its semi-final, second leg on Wednesday evening (Thursday morning AEST) while 24 hours earlier Madrid faces the slightly less formidable challenge of coming back from its 4-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund.

No team has ever come back to win from such margins at this stage of the competition, meaning the 25 May final at Wembley Stadium will likely be an all-German affair.

Overrun by the two Bundesliga sides in their first meetings, the Spanish powerhouses will rest their hopes on the two best attacking players in the game.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi has struck eight times in Europe this campaign and is on a record 20-game scoring run in the Spanish league.

Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, leads the competition with 12 goals, followed by Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski with 10 after he scored all four against Madrid last week.

The big problem is that Messi and Ronaldo may not be fully fit.

Messi is still nursing a right hamstring injury from 2 April that noticeably slowed him down in the first-leg rout.

Ronaldo, for his part, has an unspecified 'muscle problem' that kept him from playing on the weekend at Atletico Madrid. He went through an individual workout on Sunday while the rest of the team trained.

Messi made his first appearance in four rounds of the Spanish league as a second-half substitute in the runaway leader's match at Athletic Bilbao.

And even though assistant coach Jordi Roura said afterward that the Argentina forward is still not 100 per cent fit, Messi looked to be back after he scored a brilliant goal against Bilbao that will go down as one of his best.

Within 10 minutes after taking the field at San Mames, Messi had scored one goal after an amazing display of footwork and ball control to weave his way through a pack of defenders, and set up another to leave Barcelona on the cusp of victory until it conceded a 90th-minute equaliser to draw 2-2.

"Messi is slowly recovering and we hope to have him back to full strength," Roura said.

"The fitter he is, the better our chances of fighting back against Bayern."

Barcelona will have to conjure up another mammoth effort akin to the one that fuelled its historic 4-0 win at Camp Nou to overturn a 2-0 loss at AC Milan in the round of 16 last month.

But Bayern, the newly crowned German champion, is a much better and far more mature line-up than the Milan team that was unable to hang on after Messi got Barcelona going with a pair of early goals.

Bayern rested 10 players from the side that routed Barcelona when it played out a 1-0 win over Freiburg on the weekend to set a German league record for points in a season with 84.

"We've all witnessed the magic of Camp Nou often enough. But we want to show the world it won't work on us," said Bayern's Thomas Mueller, who scored twice against Barcelona in the opening leg.

While Barcelona's staff and players recognise that a 5-0 win is probably asking too much even of Messi, the mood in Madrid is a little more hopeful with a 3-0 victory over Dortmund enough for the nine-time winner to go through.

Bale's trophy cabinet looks to swell in the coming weeks after another season of success for the 23-year-old star.

The Welshman is odds-on favourite to land the PFA Player of the Year award, and there is a chance that he could also scoop the gong awarded to the best young player of the season.

Bale's 28 goals for club and country have seen him linked to some of Europe's biggest clubs, most notably Real Madrid, which has watched the Welshman on several occasions.

Villas-Boas has often made positive noises about the chances of keeping Bale at Tottenham but on Friday, for the first time, he said he had received a concrete assurance that the forward will remain at Spurs so long as they make the top four.

"I think so, that's the information that I have from the club," the Tottenham manager said when asked whether Bale would stay if his team qualify.

"The club is committed to keeping the best assets. That's the only way that we can ensure that we are in the top four every year. Gareth is part of that project bearing in mind that he has been amazing this season.

"Hopefully we can develop him to a greater extent."

Whether Tottenham do make the top four is still largely in the balance.

It will move up from fifth to third if it beats Wigan on Sunday morning (AEST), but its traditionally poor showing towards the end of the season, coupled with the fact that it still has to play Chelsea away, means there is still a good chance that the club will have to settle for fifth.

What is certain is that there is no bigger fan of Bale within the Tottenham set-up than Villas-Boas.

The Portuguese, so careful not to single his players out for individual praise at Chelsea, never passes on an opportunity to hail Bale.

The loving embrace the two shared after Bale's superb last-minute winner against West Ham earlier this season also gives hope to supporters that the manager's bond with the player could be key to boosting the chances of him remaining at the club.

"We get a buzz from working with great players and Gareth has developed into a great player so I couldn't be happier," the 35-year-old said.

"Gareth has had a major development this year. He has played in so many positions and has had such a big impact in those positions.

"We are happy that he has been nominated but we would be even happier if he was to win."

Andy Gray and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only two players in the history of the PFA Awards have won both the senior and junior gongs in the same year.

Bale has also been tipped to win the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year award and he is almost certain to be named Tottenham's player of the season.

Villas-Boas thinks that the contribution of the rest of the Spurs squad to Bale's displays should not be overlooked, however.

He added: "In the end the team has helped him have this wonderful year.

"Although the recognition is individual, I think the team will feel well and will feel good for Gareth too.

"They are an excellent group and everything they have spoken about Gareth is with respect. It's something they feel so I suppose they will be extremely happy for him."

Speaking to the media for the first time since returning to Spain from a 10-week stint in New York where he underwent treatment for cancer, an upbeat Vilanova said he "felt strong" and wanted to carry on working.

"I feel strong and, health permitting, I'm looking forward to continuing in the job," he said

"I feel well after all that I've been through. I didn't come back any earlier because there were some side effects.

"But I'm feeling better with every day and I was really looking forward to returning here."

Vilanova had chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the United States following surgery on his parotid gland in December.

The 44-year-old had suffered a relapse after first having a tumour removed from his throat in November 2011.

Assistant Jordi Roura and Aureli Altimira have looked after the first-team in his absence and Vilanova praised them for doing "an exemplary job".

"In any other place this situation of not having a manager would have been a big problem," he said.

And he never had any thoughts of stepping down.

"There were problems due to the distance. But in New York, my day-to-day life was generally good and I was able to keep in contact with the team thanks to new technologies," he added.

"If ever I get two days off, I don't know what to do. This job is not a burden to me and the doctors told me that the best thing I could do was to work."

Barcelona look set to go out of the UEFA Champions League after its 4-0 semi-final first-leg defeat to Bayern Munich, but can win back the Primera Division title from Real Madrid this weekend.

And Vilanova reckons his players deserve praise for how they have coped.

"The club's work-rate and commitment has been extraordinary, we should be pleased with these players for managing to hold their place in the league and reach the Champions League semi-finals for the sixth year running," he added.

On the Bayern tie, Vilanova said all was not lost.

"Bayern truly did come into the game on spectacular form and, although we didn't play badly, we weren't at our best," he said.

"But 4-0 was not a fair reflection. But we are Barca and it is our obligation to go out in front of our fans and show them what we are made of, to compete and try to win.

"We'll see what happens. We have to play confidently. I know it will be difficult, but I'm not throwing the towel in."

Both scored four in first-leg victories over Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively to put them well on course to meet in next month's final at Wembley.

Using a points system where each country gets five points for a team winning the Champions League, four for each team reaching the final, three for each side reaching the semis, two for each side reaching the quarters and one for each side reaching the last 16, Press Association Sport gauges the performance of four of Europe's major leagues.

2008-09 to 2012-13 (to date)

SPAIN 76

ENGLAND 68

GERMANY 44

ITALY 33

However, if Munich and Dortmund both make it through, they will each gain an extra four points for reaching the final and the winner would bag a further five, boosting the German total by 13 and taking them to 57 points overall.

2008-09

1st: England 26

2nd: Spain 20

Tied 3rd: Germany and Italy 3

2009-10

1st: Italy 17

2nd: Germany 11

3rd: Spain 8

4th: England 7

2010-11

1st: Spain 20

2nd: England 17

3rd: Germany 6

4th: Italy 5

2011-12

1st: England 16

2nd: Spain 12

3rd: Germany 11

4th: Italy 4

2012-13 (to date)

1st: Spain 16

2nd: Germany 13

3rd: Italy 4

4th: England 2

2012-13 (projected)

1st: Germany 26

2nd: Spain 16

3rd: Italy 4

4th: England 2

For the second successive night the cream of the Primera Division was embarrassed by Bundesliga opposition as Dortmund followed up Bayern Munich's 4-0 drubbing of Barcelona with a similarly impressive 4-1 victory over Madrid.

Robert Lewandowski scored all four of Dortmund's goal to leave Madrid on the verge of its third successive Champions League semi-final exit.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo's away goal on the stroke of half-time has left the Spanish giant with a glimmer of hope and Jose Mourinho's men are not ready to throw in the towel ahead of next week's second leg at the Bernabeu.

Defender Sergio Ramos told his club's website: "It's clear that the comeback depends on us. There are 90 minutes at home and we will have to go out and give it everything from the first minute.

"There is a lot of love for this competition and we really want to be in the final.

"Despite the result we have to believe that we can turn things round at home. It's complicated but we have to think that 90 minutes in the Bernabeu is a very long time and it is possible."

Lewandowski gave Dortmund a flying start at the Westfalenstadion with the opener after eight minutes but Madrid was back on level terms by the break thanks to that potentially valuable away goal from Ronaldo, which came following a mistake from Mats Hummels.

Madrid's hopes of reaching the final were left hanging by a thread, though, as Dortmund scored three times in 17 minutes at the start of the second half, Lewandowski netting all of them.

The Poland international, who has been closely linked with a summer move to Bayern Munich, produced clinical finishes in the 50th and 55th minutes to complete his hat-trick before then thumping home a 67th-minute penalty following a Xabi Alonso foul on Marco Reus.

Ramos added: "Borussia had a great game and showed they are a great team. They were better.

"It hurts to get to the semi-finals to let it slip away with a bad result. We're playing for a place in the Champions League final and we have to pick ourselves up.

"We need to think about the second leg. With the help of the fans, all of the players have to be convinced that we can do it."Ramos' fellow Spain international Alonso also hopes his side's supporters can make the difference at the Bernabeu.

"We can do it in the second match at home, even though we are not happy with this match right now," he said.

"The support of the fans is going to be crucial in the second leg, but we have to be the ones to make the first move so that they can get behind us. We have six days to wait and we can turn this result around.

"Borussia competed better than us and we have to learn for the next match because we have little margin for error."

Centre-back Pepe added: "We can turn the tie around, it's three goals and the comeback is possible.

"We will try to not make the same mistakes and we will fight every minute as if it were the last to make that comeback possible. We have to play for the honour of the Real Madrid shirt and give our best."

Lewandowski was the scourge of Real Madrid this morning (AEST), scoring all four goals in a wonderful individual display as Dortmund thrashed Jose Mourinho's men 4-1 in the first leg of their semi-final tie.

The 24-year-old is out of contract at the end of next season and has so far refused to commit to a new deal, meaning Dortmund must now consider whether to cash in at the end of the season or lose him for nothing in 2014.

Speculation in Germany has suggested Bayern Munich is leading the race to sign Lewandowski and pair him up once again with Mario Gotze, Dortmund's Germany playmaker who this week agreed a summer move south after Bayern met his release clause.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes' agent even claimed this week Lewandowski had an agreement in place with the Bundesliga champion but Klopp is willing to play the waiting game.

"I don't get the feeling Robert is on the run," said Klopp to ZDF television. "We'll just have to see what happens."

Lewandowski refused to discuss his future post-match but Dortmund general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke outlined the club's determination to keep him for another 12 months even if it means seeing him eventually depart on a free transfer.

"Our wish is explicit that he stays here," he told Sky television. "We will even do without receiving a transfer fee for him – that doesn't interest us in the slightest.

"Robert's contract runs until 2014 and, unlike Mario Gotze, there is no get-out clause."

Klopp believes Poland international Lewandowski last night wrote his name into Dortmund folklore, adding: "Whenever I walk through the Borusseum [the club's museum], I always see the same old videos.

"Maybe now Robert's four goals will find a place in there, but for that to happen, we have got to build on this in the second leg."

Despite holding a handsome first-leg lead, Klopp insists his side will not sit back in next week's return at the Bernabeu.

"We are not a team who can simply defend a result," he said. "We always want to attack.

"I brought [Sebastian] Kehl and [Kevin] Grosskreutz on tonight to strengthen us defensively, and the first thing they did was in the Real Madrid penalty area. I think that says it all.

"We have played an extraordinary game against a fantastic team, but nothing has been decided yet.

"But even if we get knocked out, nobody can take this night away from us."

The TWG UCL pod dons its lederhosen and takes a closer look at Germany's domination of the first leg in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

Strapping on the boots this week are host David Basheer, possession-based football proponent Roberto Arocha, online not-so-super sub Tom Findlay and master tactician Felix Magath, who claims to be the author of Germany's rise to (even greater) power.

We also hear from pod regulars David Zdrilic and Vitor Sobral.

TWG UCL Podcast - Semi-finals 1st leg by SBS The World Game

Don't have time to listen to the pod now? You can subscribe via iTunes or any other podcasting software by simply following the link here, and clicking the orange 'RSS' button in the top right corner.

The Bavarian side ran out a 4-0 winner at the Allianz Arena in its semi-final, first-leg clash thanks to a Thomas Muller brace plus goals from Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben.

Bayern has already wrapped up the Bundesliga title and after its dominant display is well-placed to progress to a third Champions League final in four years.

"Obviously, a victory like that takes time to sink in," Lahm told Bayern's official website.

"This team has the potential to hurt even the likes of Barcelona. That's half the job done.

"We'll have to work just as hard next week, especially in defence. That was the key to victory. We pulled everyone back behind the ball and prevented them making chances. And we looked very good on the ball in attack."

Bayern club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was in no mood to play down his side's achievement as it dismantled a Barca side which is looking to win its fourth Champions League title in eight years.

"The team were fantastic," said the two-time former European Footballer of the Year. "I've never experienced an evening like that, and I've been in the game a long time. We've won 4-0 against the best team in the world, it's like a dream come true.

"It went perfectly for us. We go to Barcelona with every chance now. The strength of this team is the performance as a collective. Barca can rarely have created so few chances. A huge compliment to every man on the team."

Barca superstar Lionel Messi conceded it would be a tough task for his side but is hopeful of a change in fortune this weekend.

Tito Vilanova's side can win the Primera Division title if it beats Athletic Bilbao and second-placed Real Madrid slip ups against city rival Atletico and Messi believes domestic success could be the catalyst for a European fightback next week.

He told reporters: "It's difficult to fight back, but we'll try to score the goals we need at the Nou Camp. We have to pick ourselves up, finish off La Liga and try to come back against Bayern.

"It will be very difficult game in the Nou Camp, to come back from 4-0 down, but we need to take it to them and try to achieve it. The are very good but we will try," he said.

After picking up a hamstring injury against Paris Saint-Germain in the last round, the Argentinian sat out Barca's last three league games and on his return was unable to create much of an impact against last year's Champions League runner-up.

He said: "I'd gone a while without playing since the injury, but I felt well.

"We will lift ourselves again, we need to win the league, where there are four games left, and try to turn things round in the Champions League, and if we can't then we will need to think about next season."

Robert Lewandowski fired four goals as Dortmund emulated fellow German side Bayern Munich's Champions League semi-final domination of Spanish opposition.

The Poland striker gave Jurgen Klopp's men an early lead and, after Cristiano Ronaldo equalised late in the first half for Real Madrid, Lewandowski struck three times more in the second half.

However, Mourinho, who is now facing the task of re-motivating his team for the semi-final return leg at the Bernabeu in six days' time, thinks it is possible if the entire side raises its game.

"I think they were the best team by far and won every individual battle on the pitch and were stronger than us, more aggressive physically and tougher mentally so they deserved it," Mourinho told Sky Sports 1.

"How it went from 1-1 to 4-1, I really don't know because everything happened in a very short space of time in the far goal from the position where I was.

"But we lost easy possession and we couldn't cope with their counter-attacking and their transition.

"We prepared for the game so well, in every detail, as we always do, especially in a semi-final.

"We prepared for everything, we were ready for everything.

"We are very confident about the work we did. I think many of the boys didn't perform and many of the boys didn't have a good night and this is exactly when you cannot make mistakes because at club level this is the second most important match in the world of football.

"The first one is the Champions league final, the second one is the Champions League semi-final so when you don't perform on a very special day it is very disappointing."

Asked if a place in the final was still a realistic possibility, Mourinho said: "It is of course very difficult but in football it can happen.

"Of course we can, on a crazy night, where everyone performs at a high level and every chance you have and every goal you score is with a high level of efficiency. Of course you can."

Mourinho also praised Dortmund striker Lewandowski, but felt Madrid did itself no favours when it came to dealing with the Poland international.

"When we know everything, absolutely everything about Lewandowski - we studied every detail possible and we lose him in three balls - and we know exactly what he does, and it is of course very disappointing," the Portuguese said.

"When I lose and I don't deserve to lose, for me it is a problem. When I lose and I deserve to lose it's a situation that I accept.

"The first goal we lost the ball in easy possession and after that we lost the player. His movement in the box, we know everything about him, so of course he deserves credit for what he did but we gave him a big support for him to be the man of the match."

Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp hailed his side's performance against the visiting Spanish giant.

He said: "It was an unbelievable, great game of my team. It was so difficult today because they are so strong and fast and they are so brilliant on the counter-attack."

Klopp was pleased with how his side responded after it saw a penalty chance turned down to put Real away with three second-half goals.

Marco Reus appeared to have been tripped in the Real penalty area by Raphael Varane just before the break but the home side's appeals were waved away by referee Bjorn Kuipers.

To add insult to injury, Real the capitalised on Mats Hummels' poor touch with Gonzalo Higuain providing Ronaldo with a simple tap-in for his 50th Champions League goal.

"The first 25 minutes were great and then we lost a bit of our game. Not so much but enough to let them come up," Klopp said.

"They got (level) and at the break we told the players: 'Maybe you think there was a wrong decision by the referee but in the last game we had a wrong decision from the referee and we had the winner. Go back to the strong first 25 minutes'."

Real will now play Dortmund at the Bernabeu next Tuesday evening (Wednesday morning AEST) in the semi-final, second leg to decide who will play in next month's Wembley final.

The Poland striker gave Jurgen Klopp's men an early lead and, after Cristiano Ronaldo equalised late in the first half for Real Madrid, Lewandowski struck three times more in the second half to secure a 4-1 win.

After 2012 finalist Bayern's 4-0 hammering of Barcelona the previous night, it was a further indication ahead of next week's return legs in Spain that the balance of power in European football may be shifting.

After a build-up dominated by the announcement that Mario Gotze will depart Dortmund for Bayern in the northern summer, his current side made a blistering start.

Raphael Varane cleared Marcel Schmelzer's early cross but Dortmund soon had a clear opportunity.

Marco Reus, of whom even more will be expected once Gotze departs, isolated Varane and surged through the visiting defence. His shot was parried by Diego Lopez and Lewandowski, reluctant to over-stretch, failed to tuck away the loose ball.

The goal arrived in the eighth minute, though, Gotze swinging in a superb cross from the left for Lewandowski, this time reaching out a long right leg after losing his marker Pepe, to sidefoot home.

Real began to establish itself in the game as the tempo settled down, and a 30-yard free-kick provided its first sight of goal. Ronaldo's dipping effort was beaten away by goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.

Another wonderful run by Reus was broken up on the edge of the box and Fabio Coentrao's interception then halted a lightning break.

Jakub Blaszczykowski caused problems with a surge into the Real penalty area, past Coentrao, but Gonzalo Higuain had tracked him all the way back and the striker made a superb challenge as the last man.

And having excelled defensively, Higuain then played his part at the other end as he seized on Mats Hummels' poor backpass and squared for Ronaldo to slot the ball home.

That left the scores level at the break but Lewandowski restored his side's lead five minutes after the restart.

With Real appealing for offside as Reus' pass found the Pole he kept his head, turned quickly on the ball and poked low past Lopez.

And it was soon 3-1 as Schmelzer's mishit shot deflected to Lewandowski, who brilliantly dragged the ball back away from Pepe and fired it into the top corner.

Lopez had to be at his best to keep Real in the game when Ilkay Gundogan drove through the defence and punched a rising effort at goal, which the keeper tipped over the bar.

And dominant Dortmund was then awarded a penalty for Xabi Alonso's blatant shove in the back of Reus. Lewandowski slammed the penalty straight down the middle to make it 4-1.

The striker put a slight blot on his copybook with a booking for blocking Sergio Ramos but soon threatened a fifth goal with a 25-yard curler pushed over by Lopez.

A tackle between Hummels and Ronaldo punctured the ball and meant a replacement was needed, and Weidenfeller was injured in another challenge with the Portugal international.

Four added minutes passed with Varane's shot, which flashed narrowly wide, the only sight of goal.

Two goals from Thomas Muller and one each from Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben gave Jupp Heynckes' side an advantage which leaves the Catalans little hope of turning things around at the Nou Camp next Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

While Barca can never be underestimated, it will require a turnaround of colossal proportions to prevent Bayern from reaching its third Champions League final in four years.

Given the manner of the Bundesliga side's domination, it is nigh-on inconceivable Barcelona will not be walking out at Wembley on May 25.

While Roura insists his side will fight tooth and nail to overturn the deficit, he acknowledged the damage caused by the demolition.

He told reporters: "The players are sad and frustrated.

"This was a game that we were excited about and the result is awful. We're all sad but this is football. We have to keep on going.

"The defeat is very painful and it complicates our chances of getting to the final."

Roura added: "We will try to turn this tie around in the return leg.

"Miracles are hard to get and the 4-0 result is complicated, but our obligation is to fight as hard as we can.

"We will keep on trying until the referee blows the final whistle."

While critical of the referee, Roura also pointed to Bayern's greater physical presence although that did not give sufficient credit to the nature of the Germans' domination.

"In the first half we competed well but they scored from a set piece and we knew coming into the match that they were a physical side; strong and powerful," he said.

"In the first half we had our options.

"What hurt us the most was the second goal. We tried to carry on but Bayern made it very difficult."

Lionel Messi returned to the squad after missing Barca's last three league matches with a hamstring problem.

He was well-marshaled at the Allianz Arena but Roura praised the effort he had made to even just be on the field.

He said: "Leo put in an incredible effort to be here. He managed to play the 90 minutes and he did what he could. I'm proud of how hard he worked to be here."

The Catalan side was given a taste of its own medicine by a bold and confident Bayern side which showed its march to the Bundesliga title this season was anything but a fluke thanks to two goals from Thomas Muller and one each from Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben.

However, after overturning a 2-0 defeat to AC Milan in the last 16, Barca is not giving up the ghost just yet.

"We are Barca and we've got to try to get to the final," said midfielder Xavi.

"We need to play a great game, but we know at the same time that it's practically impossible."

Xavi paid tribute to a Bayern side which outplayed and outmuscled the 2009 and 2011 Champions League winner like very few have achieved over the past six seasons.

"They were quicker than us and it was like a siege," he said. "We expected it to be like this.

"They are very strong physically and they were better than us.

"When you make mistakes in the Champions League, you pay the price.

"They were stronger than us. I don't know why we didn't attack well.

"They have extraordinary players like Robben and they just found it too easy to get past us."

Barca has been used to receiving rather than giving praise in recent years, regularly being branded as one of the greatest sides in history under former coach Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola now looks likely to inherit a side receiving the same kind of plaudits when he replaces Jupp Heynckes in the Bayern hotseat next season.

However, the question has got to be asked what, if anything, he will be able to improve in a side which is looking increasingly likely to complete a historic treble this season.

"We have been playing some extraordinary football all season," said Heynckes.

"We have a fantastic team and missing out on success in the past two years has just made us hungrier to win this year.

"This game was a perfect example of that."

The example was not lost on Barca's assistant coach Jordi Roura either.

"They have to be congratulated," he said. "They were superior to us.

"We are in a difficult situation, but we are Barcelona and, as such, we have to make a fight of it in the second leg and try to win.

"We will give it all we've got."

Inspired by German rival club Bayern Munich, which inflicted a 4-0 loss on Barcelona during their semi-final first leg at Allianz Arena, Dortmund is taking heart from its impressive group form against Madrid, in which it beat the Spain giant 2-1 at home and drew it 1-1 at the Bernabeu.

“We know we can hurt Madrid, because we did it in the group stages and I think they will be a little wary of us,” Langerak said.

“Technically they know we are good and also this team never gives up. Scoring two goals in stoppage time against Malaga to go through in the quarter finals said everything about the spirit and belief at this club.

“Bayern are on another level this season and that’s great for the game in Germany. We certainly think we can continue to do our bit against Madrid.”

“We have a special coach who is a superb motivator. He's the most popular coach in Germany and for good reason.

“Although we’ve fallen short in the league this year we have been excellent in the Champions league.

Langerak spoke specifically of the threat posed by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 50 goals in all competitions this season.

“We will work hard to try and limit him to very little space and try and push him into areas where he can’t damage us," he said. "But it’s not just him, Madrid have world class players all over the pitch.

“But we know they are not invincible from personal experience. They were fortunate to win through in the quarter finals against Manchester United with the red card to Nani swinging the tie but we know they will come out hard and try get at us, even though we’re the home team.

“It’s important that we keep them scoreless. We don’t have any concerns of the second leg being away because we back ourselves to score goals anywhere against any opposition.”

Langerak has made five senior appearances for Dortmund since his arrival from Melbourne Victory in 2010 as cover for Roman Weidenfeller.

“I’ll be ready if needed as I always am,” Langerak said. “I am proud to be at such a great club and I am learning all the time and whenever I talk with the boss, his words are always encouraging and uplifting.

“When you are at a big club you have a first and second choice. That’s just the way it is for me. When the opportunities come I do my best to impress.

“I’ve been here around two and half years now and have been exposed to so many great things, like winning the title last year. Each day I pick up something new.”

Madrid's desire to claim a record 10th European Cup crown was floundering badly prior to Mourinho's arrival in 2010, with the Spanish giant suffering six successive exits at the last-16 stage.

However, since the Portuguese took charge Madrid has re-established itself as a force to be reckoned with on the continent with three successive semi-final appearances.

The first two ended in disappointment with defeats to Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but Mourinho hopes it will be third time lucky when it takes on Borussia Dortmund and that his team can then go on to lift the trophy he believes it deserves to win.

"We have a way of playing which is well known, we've been on the brink for three years and we have a style of the play that guarantees quality," he said.

"I would like football to do justice to our players because with a few exceptions, none of them have won this competition so far and we've never won it as a team, and they deserve to do so.

"We've fallen in two semi-finals, one is best forgotten (against Barcelona) and the other on penalties (against Bayern) in a very tough manner.

"Hopefully football will now be fair with my players."

He added: "At this club to finish second is not enough, nor is it to reach the semi-finals.

"We need to give our maximum to reach the final."

Madrid met Dortmund in the 1998 Champions League semi-finals and knocked the then holder out 2-0 on aggregate before going on to lift the trophy itself.

Dortmund has had the better of the meetings between two in the season's competition though, winning 2-1 at home in the group stages before drawing 2-2 at the Bernabeu in a match which saw Madrid net an 89th-minute equaliser through Mesut Ozil.

Mourinho concedes his side will need to defend better than in those games, saying: "All the goals they scored against us in the group stages were our own mistakes. We could have avoided them.

"In this tie we will have to be much better focused defensively. We will be more solid. If they score against us they need to be fantastic goals or because we haven't been able to do anything about them."

Mourinho, whose side could lose its Primera Division title to Barcelona this weekend if results go against ti, opted to reveal at the pre-match press conference what his side will be for the first leg, with the only question mark being winger Angel di Maria who is set to travel to Germany after the birth of his child on Monday.

Mourinho has again preferred Diego Lopez to Iker Casillas in goal, while Sergio Ramos will line up at right-back, Fabio Coentrao will play at left-back with Marcelo out injured and Gonzalo Higuain will start up front ahead of Karim Benzema.

In announcing his team, Mourinho added: "We hope that Di Maria plays, who has had a happy day with the birth of his daughter but a tough day emotionally."

Regarding the clash with Dortmund, Mourinho said: "The tie is 50-50. Both teams have the same chance of going through.

"(Jurgen) Klopp is a great coach. I don't know him very well but he's genuine, honest.

"When I read that he doesn't concern himself at all with Real Madrid and is only concerned about his team, I cannot expect anything else than a Borussia who will come out and give it everything and be attacking."

Klopp's pre-match press conference ahead of Wedneday evening's (Thursday morning AEST) first leg was dominated by talk about Gotze after the shock announcement the attacking midfielder would be joining new Bundesliga champion Bayern on 1 July.

The news of the 20-year-old's impending departure has been greeted by fierce criticism from Dortmund supporters, and the timing could hardly have been worse for the club ahead of the visit of Madrid to the Westfalenstadion.

However, Klopp does not want the transfer bombshell to be an issue amongst the fans when Dortmund takes the field - pointing out the team come before any individual.

He said: "If anybody doesn't manage to realise by tomorrow how much effort has gone into getting us to where we are, then maybe they should not bother turning up.

"It is now up to every single one of us to show that Borussia Dortmund comes first.

"If anybody cannot hide their disappointment, then it would be nice if they would pass their tickets onto somebody who can. This team deserves to be supported.

"Since this will be my last chance to appeal to our fans, I want to say once again: leave the negative thoughts at home, come here and give us everything you've got and let us beat Real Madrid."

He added: "This chance is too big for us to concern ourselves with any other issues. The Real game is far too important."

Dortmund is in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 1998 and the clash has been presented as 'The most spectacular home game in the history of Borussia Dortmund' on the Bundesliga club's website.

That semi-final 15 years ago saw Dortmund suffer a 2-0 aggregate defeat to Madrid, which would go on to replace the German side as European champion.

Dortmund has had the better of the Spanish giant so far in this year's Champions League though, beating Jose Mourinho's men 2-1 at home in the group stage and only being denied an identical scoreline at the Bernabeu by an 89th-minute Mesut Ozil equaliser for Madrid.

Dortmund midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski hopes his side can emulate those performances once again.

"That (the home win) was a fantastic game," said the Poland international. "We then went to Madrid and played one of our greatest ever performances.

"We have a lot of respect for Real, but we have already shown what quality we have in the team and we want to show it again.

"What we have achieved so far is outstanding.

"We are undefeated and we hope to maintain that record right through to the end."

Bayern dominated at the Allianz Arena, showing not only why it won the Bundesliga title this year in record time, but why it is one of the most feared sides in European football.

Barca will have to make history next week to deny it a place at Wembley on 25 May, but with 90 minutes still to be played, the last word in the tie has not yet been spoken.

"I am not a dreamer so I'm not going to dream either," said Thomas Muller, whose brace put Bayern in the driving seat.

"Let's say that we did not expect to win 4-0, but we ran so much and created so many chances that of course it's a great result.

"But you can never tell what will happen in the second leg. I think their pitch is a bit bigger so they will make us run a bit more, but 4-0 is a fantastic result.

"A lot can happen on one night so we have got to remain alert, but our morale is high."

In 11 months since going down to Chelsea in the final at the Allianz Arena, Bayern has transformed into a side which, after sending the records tumbling in the Bundesliga, is now making waves in Europe.

That bitter defeat and three trophyless years have inspired it according to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and few would now bet against it completing an historic treble this season.

"We are a united team and have lots of quality," said Germany's number one. "The defeats last season have pulled us together and we've shown that in the last weeks and months.

"We can enjoy the night, but we've still got to be careful. We know that in the Nou Camp, Barcelona have played some great games."

Yet it is going to take something more than a great game for the Blaugrana to overturn a four-goal deficit, especially considering the manner in which Bayern tore Barca apart.

However, until the final whistle seals its fate, Barca will carry on believing.

"We've got 90 minutes and we've got to give it a try," said Dani Alves.

"When you play against an opponent who play better than you, then things like this can happen, and we've got to congratulate them.

"Today Bayern were stronger than us and we've got to take our hats off to them, but there are still 90 minutes to play.

"We still have a second leg and we've got to believe in it, but there's nothing abnormal about what happened tonight."

Two goals from Thomas Muller and one each from Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben gave Jupp Heynckes' side an advantage which, added to the manner of its victory, leaves the Catalan side little hope of turning things around at the Nou Camp next week.

Barcelona eased into its possession game from the outset, but Bayern, a side which wrapped up the Bundesliga in record time this season, and scored 16 goals in the space of 10 days recently, certainly had no reason to feel inferior.

Not only did it play Barca at its own game, it did it even better.

For Xavi, read Javi Martinez, for a well-marshalled Lionel Messi, you could take your pick from either Robben, Muller or Franck Ribery.

Quicker to close down its opponent, Bayern was also swifter in spreading the play, and unsurprisingly it had the first chance with Robben exchanging passes with Martinez before shooting straight at Victor Valdes in the second minute.

Bayern had a clear hunger to make amends for last May's defeat to Chelsea, a result which remains a painful memory in these parts.

Two penalty appeals which had convinced the Allianz Arena crowd were not as much entertained by referee Viktor Kassai.

But Bayern did not need any helping hands as it crafted out a stylish opener in the 25th minute.

Robben's cross from the right picked out Dante at the far post, and he returned the ball to the opposite post where Muller was encroaching to head in the opener with Valdes unable to stop the ball before it crept in.

Muller was the man who had given Bayern the lead in the final last May, but few were now thinking back to what happened next in that game.

Dante averted a minor scare five minutes later when he got in a vital touch just in front of an anonymous Messi from Pedro's cross, but that was a mere punctuation in a dominant display from Bayern.

Its superiority became reflected in the scorelline in the 49th minute when Robben's corner was headed down at the far post by Muller with an unmarked Gomez sweeping the ball in from underneath the crossbar.

An intrepid Robben then set up Ribery, who dragged a shot wide of the far post in the 55th minute as Bayern sought a greater cushion.

It established that in the 72nd minute when Robben capped a fine individual performance by sliding the ball inside the far post after getting in around the back of Jordi Alba, who appeared to be impeded by Muller in the build-up.

Marc Bartra wasted a rare opportunity for the guest in the 76th minute before Muller wrapped things up six minutes later, tucking the ball in from close range after David Alaba got round the back of Barca's crumbling defence.

The Bundesliga club reached the final of Europe's showpiece football event twice in the past three years, finishing on the losing side to Inter Milan in 2010 and Chelsea last May.

To get a third crack at winning a first European title since defeating Valencia on penalties in 2001, it must overcome Spain's champions-elect, and four-times Champions League winner, over two legs with the first episode coming at a sold-out Allianz Arena .

And Lahm says falling short at the final hurdle is not an option.

"When you reach the semi-finals, then you want to reach the final," he said. "Our aim is to win it."

Nevertheless, the Germany captain knows the clash, which many feel would have formed an ideal Wembley final in late May, is going to test his record-breaking team to the full.

Bayern left the competition for dead domestically this season, wrapping up the title with six games to spare and earlier than any other club before it, while reaching the final of the domestic DFB-Pokal cup competition with a comfortable 6-1 win over league rival Wolfsburg.

Even the Champions League's other semi-finalist Borussia Dortmund is 20 points adrift of a Bayern side which, Lahm admits, can expect to meet its match in Barcelona.

"Barcelona have been the team to beat for several years now," he acknowledged. "But it's a game between two sides on a par with each other.

"We have the right players on the field to do Barcelona damage."

The Catalan side is in the semi-finals for the sixth year running having taken the step to the final twice, going on to win the competition.

Defeats to Manchester United, Inter Milan and Chelsea in the other three semi-final ties has put it on guard, though, with midfielder Xavi well aware of what his side is up against not only in Munich but in the return leg at the Nou Camp next week.

"Bayern are a great team," he said. "They have already won the league and are in the final of the German Cup.

"Their form is probably better than ours coming into the semi-finals, but I think the tie is 50/50.

"We want to show Barcelona at our best, then it will be up to what happens on the pitch to decide."

Like Lahm, Xavi knows that defeat is not an option when two of Europe's biggest clubs meet for a place at Wembley next month.

"Being at Barcelona, you have always got to win," he said. "It is the best club in the world and we want to show we are the best."

Here, Press Association Sport looks at both teams' strengths and weaknesses as they look to gain the upper hand in their respective ties.

BAYERN MUNICH

Strengths: Jupp Heynckes' side has already wrapped up the Bundesliga title and can keep its star players for the important matches. It likes to play down the wings and in Thomas Muller and Frank Ribery it has strength on either side. Aside from the 2-0 home defeat to Arsenal, Bayern has scored in every game it has played in this season with Mario Mandzukic leading the club's charts with 20 goals in all competitions. Incredibly, it has only conceded three away league goals in this campaign.

Weaknesses: Bayern has a problem of falling at the last hurdle. It has reached two of the last three Champions League finals but has not won the competition since 2001 - and even then it had to win it on penalties after drawing 1-1 with Valencia over 120 minutes.

BARCELONA

Strengths: Argentina superstar Lionel Messi is the obvious one here, having scored a staggering 57 goals in 46 matches in all competitions and he is expected to feature after missing Barca's last three Primera Division matches with a thigh injury. The Catalan club has have lost just one of its 25 home games this season, drawing four, and has averaged 68 percent of possession in Champions League games.

Weaknesses: Only just scraped through against Paris Saint-Germain and has been defeated at Celtic and AC Milan away from home. Meanwhile, injuries to Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano have caused problems in defence and Adriano or Alex Song may have to fill in as a makeshift centre-back, its only natural option being inexperienced 22-year-old Marc Bartra.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Strengths: Dortmund's main threat comes from its strength in attack. Its front quartet of Jakub Blaszczykowski, Mario Gotze, Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski have 55 goals between them this season, with the latter leading the scoring charts with 23. It has only failed to score three times in all competitions and is the only unbeaten team left in the Champions League.

Weaknesses: Last year's Bundesliga champion has struggled to see out games this campaign. On eight occasions it has gone on to either lose or draw after taking the lead but has not done so since a 1-1 stalemate with Borussia Monchengladbach in February. A 2-0 win against Mainz over the weekend was the first time it had kept a clean sheet in the league in nine matches.

REAL MADRID

Strengths: Jose Mourinho's side is formidable at home. It has not lost at the Bernabeu since a 2-1 Copa del Rey defeat to Barcelona in January 2012 and has only failed to score there once in the last two years. A lot of the credit for that must be handed to Cristiano Ronaldo who has averaged a little over a goal a game this season (50 in 49).

Weaknesses: While its home record is strong, the Spanish giant has found life difficult on the road. In the Primera Division and the Champions League Madrid has lost seven of its 26 away fixtures, which is largely the reason it has not kept up with Barcelona in the league.

Barca, which has won the trophy twice in the past five years and is into a sixth straight semi-final, arrived in Munich needing only to glance at the Bundesliga table to realise what it is up against.

With 81 points, 20 more than nearest rival and fellow UCL semi-finalist Borussia Dortmund, just one defeat in 30 matches and 89 goals scored compared to just 14 conceded, Bayern's domestic record is frightening.

Add to that a 6-1 humbling of Wolfsburg in a DFB-Pokal semi-final a week ago, and the same scoreline to sweep Hannover aside in the Bundesliga last weekend, then it is clear to see why Barca arrived in Bavaria with plenty of respect for its host.

"It is going to be a very tight tie," assistant coach Roura told reporters as he stood in for Tito Vilanova at the pre-match press conference.

"It will probably come down to nuances. The side who manages to impose themselves the most on the game will have the best chance.

"We know how good Bayern are, and we know it's going to be hard not only tomorrow, but in the tie overall."

Bayern steamrolled its way to a 23rd German title, yet that does not scare Barcelona.

BATE Borisov showed how it can be done by getting the better of the Bavarian side in the group stage, while Arsenal pushed it to the brink in the last 16.

And Barca would not be Barca if it did not have belief in its own ability.

"We have a good feeling," Roura said. "We will try to play to our strengths and impose our own pace and intensity onto the game.

"We are really looking forward to it."

The Allianz Arena will be packed with 65,000 fans also looking forward to the game with many among the home faithful also eager to catch a glimpse of four-times Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi.

They will have to wait until an hour before kick-off to find out if the Argentine will start, however, with Roura not wanting to reveal too much.

Messi, who has scored eight goals in the competition so far this season, three more than Bayern's top scorer Thomas Muller, has missed Barca's last three league games due to a hamstring injury.

"He's been feeling good over the past few days, but I don't know how he will feel tomorrow," Roura said.

"We'll make a decision tomorrow after consulting with the doctors.

"He is a special player and whether he plays or not will make a difference."

A special player for what promises to be a special game in Munich when two of Europe's top clubs in terms of tradition and prestige fight it out for a place at Wembley next month.

Lewandowski continued his excellent recent form as he scored his 10th goal in as many games, but before he struck in the last minute, the match was still on a knife edge.

"It was a strange game," said the Poland international. "We desperately wanted to win it, but we were thinking of Madrid.

"I want to score at least one goal in every game, then I am happy, and if I manage that against Madrid then that would be even better."

The win secured Dortmund's place in the Champions League next season, but it still has some unfinished business in the competition this year as it prepares for the semi-final first leg.

"We are proud to have qualified for the Champions League again," said defender Marcel Schmelzer on his club's website.

"On Wednesday, we then have the highlight of the current Champions League campaign for us."

Ilkay Gundogan added: "We can now go into the Real game with the wind between our sails.

"It's also important that we're all fit and didn't pick up any injuries."

The Argentina superstar has missed Barca's last three Primera Division matches as the Catalan giant decided not to take any unnecessary risks with the hamstring problem Messi sustained in the first leg of its Champions League quarter-final against Paris St Germain.

However, Messi, who featured as a substitute in the second leg against PSG, trained normally on Sunday and, even though he is still waiting for the green light from Barca's medical team to resume playing, he has been included in Tito Vilanova's 21-man travelling party for Tuesday's trip to Bayern.

The only players missing from the squad are injured defenders Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano plus the suspended Adriano.

Terry and Frank Lampard, who jointly lifted the cup in Munich last May, handed the silverware over to UEFA president Michel Platini in a symbolic ceremony in London.

Chelsea is in the running for continental honours after reaching the last four of the Europa League - but it is UEFA Champions League football it craves.

To secure a place among the elite, Chelsea, currently third, must retain its place in the top four of the English Premier League.

Terry said: "To hand it back has been very sad. It is a trophy we worked so hard for.

"To come here and hand it back not even a year on has made us doubly determined to cement our place in the Champions League for next season.

"The players are happy where we are in the league at the moment. To be able to strengthen and keep the existing players we have got, we have to cement that."

Terry denied he had contradicted Chelsea's interim manager Rafael Benitez, who had cast doubt over his fitness after a season disrupted by a knee injury.

The defender said he accepted Benitez's rotation policy but would always be available to play.

"There has been a lot made of it. Even today. I didn't speak out against the manager at all. I am fit, I have been fit," Terry said.

"There is nothing to read into it. If the manager chooses not to play me that is his preference and I have no qualms about that because the two or three guys in front of me are world-class players.

"It is down to me to work hard, do my best on the training field and, when selected, do my best for him.

"I am Chelsea's biggest supporter, whether I am playing or not playing."

Terry is heading into the final year of his current Chelsea contract and he would be keen to sign another one.

"Of course, I love Chelsea. This is my club," he said.

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay refused to discuss the club's search for a new manager for next season.

Asked whether Benitez had a chance of being retained if he met his targets of winning the FA Cup and finishing in the top three, Gourlay said: "We will look at everything at the end of the season.

"We were clear the role was interim until the end of the season and we will sit down then take it from there. We have to believe we can deliver the points."

The capital club is closing in on its first Ligue 1 title in 19 years and put together an impressive Champions League run, exiting the competition unbeaten after being knocked out by Barcelona on the away goals rule at the quarter-final stage.

That success has come on the back of major investment from the club's Qatari owner, and further spending is expected this northern summer ahead of another assault on Europe's premier club competition.

Signing Real Madrid star Ronaldo would be a major statement of intent but Leonardo played down the chances of a deal.

"On Ronaldo, there has never been an offer," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I've never heard anything about (Wayne) Rooney or (Edinson) Cavani either. I do not rule out big signings, but only if there is a suitable opportunity.

"We do want a larger squad with adequate cover in all areas in order to avoid the sort of problems we had in January in midfield with all the injuries and suspensions."

Most of PSG's big-money signings recently have come from Italy, highlighted by the deal for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva from AC Milan, as well the acquisition of Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli and Thiago Motta from Inter Milan, among others.

However, Leonardo - the former AC Milan and Inter coach - said he could cast a wider net this year.

"The market is opening up," he said. "We may look in Spain or England."

Even if no deal for Ronaldo emerges, one obvious target at Real Madrid would be France striker Karim Benzema, and

Leonardo admitted he was keen to bring some French stars into the PSG line-up.

"The idea of seeing the great French players here is something I like," he said. "I'm not necessarily talking about Benzema, but maybe (Samir) Nasri, (Franck) Ribery or (Yohan) Cabaye.

"But I do not know if it is feasible and I have not had contact with any of them."

The Real Madrid coach was in the stands taking notes on his side's Champions League semi-final opponent, leaving after Dortmund had already put the game under lock and key after little over an hour.

"It shows that he is taking the competition seriously," said Klopp. "But I could have told him that we are a pretty decent side if he had just called me."

What Mourinho did not see was Dortmund conceding a goal, although it did little to undermine its dominance as it cemented second place in the Bundesliga, allowing it to focus fully on the first leg of the semi-final on April 24.

"He left when it was 5-0, so he did not get to see our weaknesses," joked Klopp to Liga Total television.

"We want to break the 60-point mark against Mainz next week - that is our next aim - and then we will start to deal with Real Madrid."

The Barcelona boss is back in the dugout after undergoing cancer treatment for a second time, his return coinciding with the Catalan club booking its place in the semi-finals of the Champions League with an away-goals win against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.

Next up for Barca is a blockbuster meeting with Bayern Munich in the last four, and Abidal, who has also suffered with cancer and has just returned from a year on the sidelines following a liver transplant, says Vilanova's recent illness is all the motivation the squad needs.

"The aim is to get into the Champions League final for Tito," said Abidal. "No two ways about it."

Abidal was back in action for the first time since undergoing the transplant in last Saturday's 5-0 demolition of Real Mallorca, and the full-back admitted he never had any doubts that he would return to the highest level.

"My aim was always to come back", Abidal added on fcbarcelona.com. "I enjoy the training and the chances the manager gives me.

"If I play, great. If not, I try to help my colleagues."

The 33-year-old is out of contract at the end of this season, and while it seems highly unlikely Barca would part with a player that they have supported through such a difficult time, he admits his future remains uncertain.

"The club will decide my future," he said. "My contract ends in June and I want to carry on playing.

"I want to end my career at Barca but I don't know whether the club wants me out."

The Westphalians have already got the better of the Spanish outfit in the group stage with a win at home and a draw at the Bernabeu, and coach Jurgen Klopp cannot wait to lock horns with it again.

"Now that it's decided who we will play against, we want to get out there and play," he said on his club's website.

"We don't need to emphasise how tough Real Madrid are, but from the three possibilities, they are the only ones we have already beaten once this season."

Dortmund will host Real in its imposing Westfalenstadion in the first leg before travelling to Spain a week later for the return.

That is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage, according to the club's general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke.

"Home advantage is not decisive," he said. "In the quarter-finals, two teams who had home advantage first and two who had home advantage second went through."

Director of sport Michael Zorc added: "We would have been happier to play away first, but we saw against Malaga that that is not always an advantage.

"We have already played Real Madrid twice this season and we looked very good against them, and we've earned a lot of respect this year in the Champions League."

The draw keeps alive the chance of an all-Bundesliga final with Bayern Munich facing Barcelona in the other tie.

Bayern, which lost last season's final on its own ground to Chelsea, will bid to make its second consecutive final at Wembley on 26 May (AEST), with the first leg of the semi-final to be played in Munich on 24 April (AEST).

The draw means there will not be a repeat of three seasons ago when Primera Division rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid met in the semi-finals, with Borussia Dortmund drawing Jose Mourinho's side.

Dortmund, which has made the semi-finals for the first time in 15 years, is the only unbeaten side left in the competition, which includes a Group D 2-1 home win against Real before a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture at the Bernabeu.

Bayern will play Barcelona on 24 April (AEST) and 2 May (AEST), while Dortmund and Real will face each other on 25 April (AEST) and 1 May (AEST).

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admits he is relishing a tough test against a side he holds in such high regard

"Barcelona are the benchmark for me in Europe. They have won the Champions League more than any other team in the recent years," Rummenigge told UEFA.com.

"They are the best team in Europe at the moment with fantastic attacking potential.

"We played them in 2009 and received a real thumping. I remember that game well and I don't really like to think about it, because it was quite painful to watch.

"However, it's a wonderful opportunity to show that we have improved a lot since then."

Rummenigge also denied that playing the opening match at home is a disadvantage.

"I think we will see two very good games played at the highest possible level," he said.

"Furthermore, I think playing at home first is a slight advantage, contrary to the popular belief that it's a disadvantage.

"We saw that against Juventus, where people said that it might be a disadvantage. But we produced a great performance at home and that set the stage for the return leg and our progression into the semi-finals.

"I'm really excited that we will get to play the best team in Europe. I still feel Barcelona are the big favourites to win the Champions League."

Meanwhile, Dortmund general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke was pleased to have drawn a Spanish opponent and avoid an all-Bundesliga tie.

"We are happy with this draw - not because we think it's an easy one, but because the Champions League is an international competition and we wanted an international game rather than a national tie against Bayern," Watzke said.

"I don't think Madrid will be afraid because of what happened in the group stage.

"They will respect us, just like we will respect them."

Mourinho, who has guided Real to its third successive semi-final, has matched Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson's record of seven appearances in the last four of the European Cup.

The Portuguese has also reached this stage with Porto, Inter Milan and Chelsea.

Former Real striker and club ambassador Emilio Butragueno insisted Dortmund will not be taken lightly, even though they have been absent from the final stages of the tournament for a decade and a half.

"It's a pleasure and honour for us to be here," Butragueno said.

"We have a lot of respect for Borussia Dortmund. We played them twice (in the group stage) but didn't manage to beat them.

"This time we hope it will different as we want to be in the final, that's what we are all dreaming of."

Barcelona, the Spanish champion and favourite, will join its fierce rival Real Madrid, last year's runner-up Bayern Munich and 1997 winner Borussia Dortmund in Nyon after a series of dramatic quarter-finals.

Lionel Messi defied injury to produce yet more magic and set up a vital second-leg equaliser for Barcelona as it saw off Paris Saint-Germain on away goals after the score ended 3-3.

Real was beaten in its second leg by Galatasaray but two goals from the prolific Cristiano Ronaldo proved crucial as it edged out the Turkish side 5-3 on aggregate.

Dortmund's passage was the most dramatic as it struck twice in injury-time to beat Malaga 3-2 and progress by the same aggregate scoreline.

By contrast, Bayern's 4-0 aggregate defeat of Juventus was more routine but its presence in the last four completes a line-up to excite the neutral.

For three of the four teams involved it is familiar territory with Barca, Real and Bayern having all reached the same stage last season, although it was Chelsea which went on to win the event. Dortmund has not got this far since 1998.

Between them the four clubs have won the competition 18 times.

Three of Barcelona's wins have come since 2006 and the Catalan giant will again be highly fancied.

Assistant coach Jordi Roura said: "When you get to the semi-finals of a European competition the best four teams are there, so I don't have any preferences in Friday's draw.

"Whoever we get it is going to be very tricky to advance."

A Barca-Real Madrid clash would create huge excitement with their ill-tempered semi-final meeting of two years ago still fresh in the memory.

Real boss Jose Mourinho, who is chasing a record 10th success for his club and a third for himself, said: "Now we have a semi-final to play against a great team.

"We do not know which one yet but they will be great. It will be hard, yet now is the time to enjoy ourselves and not be nervous or afraid."

While Mourinho's future beyond the end of the season remains a subject of speculation, Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes has already confirmed he is retiring.

Having secured this season's domestic title, he now has a chance to bow out on a glorious high.

Heynckes, who will be succeeded by former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, said: "We are Bundesliga champions but we still have other goals.

"We will see if we are on the same level as Madrid or Barcelona."

Dortmund may be the outsider of the quartet, but after Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 it is not to be taken lightly.

Coach Jurgen Klopp, however, knows his team cannot rely on the kind of last-gasp heroics it produced against Malaga again.

Speaking after the win, Klopp said: "I cannot explain what has happened inside me after that - I think I need to see a doctor.

"It feels like we've won the trophy. If we play as we did (against Malaga) we won't win the Champions League, but if we play as we really can and have passion, then we can do well."

With his side a goal down thanks to a Javier Pastore strike and heading out of the competition, the Argentinian was brought on by Tito Vilanova for the final 28 minutes.

Messi became the catalyst for Barca's progression, as he set up Pedro for what proved to be the goal that saw it through to the last four.

The World Footballer of the Year's appearance came just a week after he picked up a hamstring problem at the Parc des Princes and there were fears his involvement last night (Thursday morning) could have led to a worsening of a problem.

However, the club has announced Messi has suffered no negative reaction.

"The injury has not suffered a worsening or no change," the statement read. "The player will continue to set the pace of recovery and its evolution marked availability for the upcoming matches."

He was a welcome sight for Barca at the Nou Camp and matchwinner Pedro was keen to praise his teammate's impact.

"He worked very hard all week to be with us tonight. We need to thank him and congratulate him for helping the team, he's the best," Pedro told the club's official website.

"We deserve to be in the semi-finals.

"PSG are a great rival, like any team that make it this deep in the competition."

The Ligue 1 leader drew 1-1 at the Nou Camp in the second leg of the quarter-final, but was eliminated on away goals after last week's 2-2 draw at the Parc des Princes.

Leonardo was pleased with PSG's displays against the Catalan giant and took great encouragement that it was on the right track.

"Honestly, we are very disappointed," the Brazilian said on www.psg.fr. "We knew right from the start we were playing against an excellent side in Barcelona.

"We are only at the start of our journey. Here at Paris Saint-Germain, everything is happening very quickly and we are trying to build something.

"Carlo Ancelotti is doing an incredible job. It's incredible what we have achieved.

"I can't remember the last time I saw a side cause Barcelona as many problems as we did. Apart from the very start of the match, we totally controlled the encounter. We only lacked that second goal to get us through."

Javier Pastore put the visitors ahead just after half-time but, inspired by the introduction of a half-fit Lionel Messi, Pedro Rodriguez netted the crucial equaliser for Barca 19 minutes from time.

Ancelotti acknowledged the presence of four-time world player of the year Messi, who had started on the bench after picking up a hamstring injury in the first leg, had been pivotal.

"I think we played a great game," the Italian said. "The key was to come here and play football. We got the ball forward very quickly and didn't only defend. We created a lot of problems for Barca.

"Messi certainly gave his side a confidence boost because, even at under 100 per cent, he is still a fantastic player.

"We could have scored in the first half and we just lacked that little bit of luck to put the ball away and give us a chance.

"For a first season back in the Champions League, it is very positive. We will come back stronger than ever next season."

Goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu echoed his coach's sentiments that the experience would benefit PSG in the long run.

"We played really well," the 26-year-old said. "We gave it everything in attack and in defence and were very aggressive.

"After the draw in the first game we knew that we had to score goals and win [the second leg].

"We are very proud of what we have done, even if we are also disappointed. We saw that it was possible.

"We accept the final result. This has been a very positive experience and will serve us well for next season."

The newly crowned Bundesliga champion saw off the Serie A champion-elect with consummate ease, displaying the gulf between the two sides which Juve coach Antonio Conte had been so keen to emphasise on the eve of the game.

Goals from Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Pizarro saw Bayern ease through and set up the prospect of an all-German semi-final with Borussia Dortmund.

"We expected Juve to put us under pressure to begin with and we lost the ball too easily and did not have a very good organisation in defence," he said.

"That is why, now and again, we had a few problems.

"But bit by bit we controlled the game and we showed our class in the second half.

"We did not let them have a chance then, which is why this win is deserved."

Despite the margin of victory, Heynckes was quick to pay tribute to the Bianconeri.

"We have made it through to the semi-finals against a great team, a strong side," he added.

"It was really enjoyable to play in such a modern stadium in front of this atmosphere."

Juve coach Antonio Conte returned the compliments, acknowledging Bayern's strength and highlighting the difference between the two sides.

"The best team won," he said. "They proved that in the first leg and confirmed it here.

"They are a side built to win and to say that this is the strongest Bayern of all time would not be ridiculous.

"There is still a big gap between us and Europe's best and we've got to keep on working to bridge it.

"Today, we woke up from this beautiful dream, and now we have to focus on winning the Scudetto."

Guten Tag Fusball Fans ... WILKOMMEN ZU DIE UEFA POD.

In true UCL pod tradition we have rotated the line-up for the quarter-final second leg action as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund won through.

David Basheer is out for tactical, technical and disciplinary and David Zdrilic slipped into the playmaker's role.

Also lining up is a man who has an answer for everything and part time celebrity chef Vitor Sobral and with two German sides in the semi-finals we have our very own Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Speciman - Stuart Randall.

TWG UCL Podcast - Matchday 9b by SBS The World Game

Don't have time to listen to the pod now? You can subscribe via iTunes or any other podcasting software by simply following the link here, and clicking the orange 'RSS' button in the top right corner.

Juve was outclassed during a 2-0 first-leg defeat to the newly-crowned German champion last week in Munich and despite a far better performance in Turin the host fell to another 2-0 reverse.

Conte, a former midfielder with the two-time European champion before leading the club to its 28th Scudetto in his first season in charge last year, said on Tuesday there was a huge gap between his side and big-spending Bayern.

After second-half goals from Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Pizarro sealed the Bundesliga side's place in the semi-finals for the third time in four years, the 43-year-old Conte took aim at Italian football in general.

He said it is time for Italy's clubs to start generating the finance needed to compete on a level playing field with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester United.

If not, Juve could go the way of one of European football's strongest sides in the 1970s, Dutch giant Ajax, which has struggled to get back to Europe's top table in the past two decades.

"Given that two years ago we weren't even in the Europa League I have to congratulate my players for getting this far," said Conte.

"They've worked really hard to make a mark in this competition over the past two years.

"They (Bayern) were simply stronger than us and we can only congratulate them. When you're playing against one of the strongest teams in Europe it becomes difficult for everyone.

"But playing Bayern was a good opportunity to see where exactly we are compared to the big boys in Europe. Where are we, what's missing and how do we remedy it?

"We have to look elsewhere, to Spain, to England and to Germany to see what lessons we can learn.

"But if you have the money, you can buy (players) and win. Otherwise, it takes a lot of patience.

"The way things are right now, I don't see any Italian teams winning the Champions League for the next several years."

Inter Milan in 2010 was the last Italian team to win the Champions League but since then no Serie A side has made the final four of Europe's premier club competition.

Although Juventus is considered one of the continent's bigger clubs, its comparative lack of spending power does little to draw the world's top players.

Juve has repeatedly declared it cannot splash out 30 million euros ($37.13 million) on one player, but for the club's director general Beppe Marotta, Bayern's massive spending power has proved key.

"We were dominated last week at Bayern and this week we lost again, but not just on the pitch - in terms of finance as well," said Marotta, underlining the fact Bayern, champion four times, was a beaten finalist in 2010 and 2012.

"They have played two finals in the space of three years. Don't forget that Bayern have a turnover that is not only twice that of Juve, but also Milan and Inter Milan."

Conte said he will now concentrate on 'defending our league crown', but he called on Italian football - which has been rocked by match-fixing, drugs and sports betting scandal over the years - to take a look in the mirror, or fall further behind.

"Look at Ajax. They were huge before, now they're nowhere in Europe," he added.

Conte, who earlier this season served a four-month touchline ban for his alleged role in a match-fixing affair while at his former club, Siena, added: "In Italy, people are more interested in following futile stories than looking at how we can go about improving the state of our football.

"They ask useless questions about the referee or this or that. The answer is, we have to work hard and try to take our football to a new level and to do that we have to increase the budget that's available to us."

The Catalan outfit was trailing Carlo Ancelotti's side at the Nou Camp due to Javier Pastore's opener and brought on its Argentinian talisman with 28 minutes remaining.

Although Messi could not add to his tally of eight Champions League goals, he added a spark to Barcelona's attack, which had failed to muster a shot on target before he came onto the pitch.

He also created the danger which lead to Pedro equalising on 70 minutes, which sent Barca to the last four of the tournament on away goals after drawing the first leg in Paris 2-2.

"Messi is the best player in the world and he changed the game just by being on the pitch," Villa told television channel Canal Plus after the game.

"We have to congratulate him for his show of commitment to the team and to football. It is thanks to him, and everyone else, that we have qualified," added the Asturian forward, who began the match in attack alongside Cesc Fabregas and Pedro while Messi was left on the bench after suffering a hamstring injury in last week's match at the Parc de Princes.

Villa said that PSG had made his side work for the draw, and admitted Barca had been far from its best.

"We are delighted to qualify after suffering so much. They caused us a lot of problems, and they did a lot of damage with their counter-attacks," he said.

"We gave the ball away a lot, which we don't normally do, we didn't play well. We knew that they [PSG] were strong on the counter-attack but they still made it difficult for us.

"However, we have qualified, and that's what's important."

Barca assistant coach Jordi Roura agreed with Villa on Messi's impact on the game, and admitted it was always the plan to bring him on if the game was not going its way.

"We had agreed that he would play from the moment things started to go wrong for us, and that moment arrived. He came onto the pitch and once again participated in a goal," he said.

"He proved his competitive edge, he's an irreplaceable player."

The assistant coach also celebrated the club reaching the semi-finals of the competition for the sixth consecutive season.

"It's a huge milestone, it's extraordinary," he said. "The fans should be very proud.

"The game was very difficult but these players are very special. They are made of special stuff, and you have to congratulate them."

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti expressed his disappointment after seeing his side go out of the competition by such a slim margin.

"We did everything possible to win, we played well and we came close," he said. "It was a marvellous night but it would have been fantastic to have made it to the semi-finals."

The Italian also declared that his side, making its first appearance in the Champions League for eight seasons, could be proud of its achievements in the tournament and would build on the experience in the future.

He said: "This game will be useful for us in the coming seasons. We lacked a bit of experience because some of our players have only just discovered the Champions League. Only time will allow us to gain the experience that will help us reach the semi-finals, and that's our aim for next year.

"We leave the competition playing 10 matches and losing just once. We've done a good job and we regret nothing."

The Spanish team appeared to have sealed its place in the semi-finals as it led Borussia Dortmund 2-1 with seconds remaining at the Westfalenstadion, but two goals in stoppage-time saw the German side secure a 3-2 win to go through.

Malaga, playing in the competition for the first time, was fuming with some of the decisions made by Scottish referee Craig Thomson and his team, and announced it would be making a formal complaint to UEFA about the officiating.

The Primera Division outfit was particularly upset with Felipe Santana's 93rd-minute winner which he scored from an offside position.

Al Thani, meanwhile, launched a furious Twitter outburst immediately after the match, claiming his club had been the victims of 'racism', and he continued on Wednesday.

"Yes, we were targeted from the beginning of the season by corrupt UEFA and based on racism," he wrote on his personal account, @ANAALThani

In December, Malaga accused UEFA of unfair and unjust treatment after it was handed a one-season ban from European competition - to be imposed if the club qualifies for the Champions League or Europa League during any of the next four seasons - due to outstanding debts.

UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said the comments would now be looked at by the governing body.

He said: "It will now be analysed by our disciplinary inspectors, they will act if they have to act depending on what has been said.

"I can understand when you lose a match in the 93rd minute the emotions come up and maybe you say things that you don't really think and you really don't want to say."

Al Thani, who also posted pictures on Twitter of the offside decisions that had gone against his side as Dortmund scored its match-winning goal, was not the only person bitterly upset by Malaga's defeat.

Veteran winger Joaquin Sanchez, whose 25th-minute strike from the edge of the area had put Malaga ahead, also hit out at UEFA and its president Michel Platini, telling Spanish radio station Cadena SER: "We suspect Platini and all of them there. Because we are Malaga and not Real Madrid, it's easier to do this with us.

"We're very hurt because we didn't deserve to go out in this way.

"We saw the footage of the goals after the game. Something like this shouldn't happen at this stage of the game, but of course, we are Malaga ... "

Coach Manuel Pellegrini said after seeing his team's fairytale Champions League debut campaign end: "There was no refereeing in the last seven minutes.

"Our players were being elbowed and pushed all over the place. Two of their players should have been given a red card and there was a double offside for their third goal.

"It was extremely difficult to regain possession under these conditions. We're all extremely bitter at the outcome."

The Andalusian club says it will now be making a formal complaint about Thomson's performance.

Malaga director general Vicente Casado told reporters at Munster airport ahead of its return to Spain: "From the point of view of the club we are angry about another injustice against the club, first in the offices and now on the pitch.

"The club are going to present an official complaint to UEFA about the refereeing.

"We regret that the level of refereeing is not at the level that the quarter-finals, the players, the fans - both Dortmund and Malaga - deserves.

"Our complaint is not going to be against UEFA, it's going to be against the level of refereeing that we expect, which has not been at the right level.

"If they demand a level of organisation from the clubs and to give a spectacle on the pitch then we ask that the others things, like the refereeing, is of the same level."

Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan came to the defence of referee Thomson and his team.

Regan said: "Craig Thomson has had a fantastic season and that was why he was selected to referee a Champions League match at the highest level. I thought his handling of the game was very, very good.

"Unfortunately a number of decisions for the people working alongside him perhaps let him down. But unfortunately these things happen in football.

"It doesn't get away from the fact that Craig Thompson is a first-class referee and that's why he has risen through the game in the way he has."

Regan said he hoped the controversy would not affect Thomson's possible selection for the FIFA World Cup next year.

He added: "I think Craig has done everything to justify inclusion in both UEFA and FIFA competitions and the issues are not about Craig Thomson, it is about the decisions made by a number of supporting officials."

Two goals up from the first leg at the Allianz Arena, Mario Mandzukic's 64th-minute goal finished the tie before substitute Claudio Pizarro added further gloss in stoppage-time.

Buoyed by winning its 23rd Bundesliga title at the weekend, Bayern was not ruffled by the home side's fast start and replied in kind before taking control of the game.

Serie A leader Juve headed into the match on the back of a weekend victory over Pescara, with its reverse in Germany its only defeat in the last nine.

Juventus was without suspended midfielder Arturo Vidal as Paul Pogba was promoted from the bench in his place, while home coach Antonio Conte gave Kwadwo Asamoah the nod ahead of Federico Peluso on the left wing.

Bayern had midfielder Javi Martinez available after his suspension for the first leg, but Toni Kroos missed out after picking up a groin injury.

It took just two minutes for the home side to have a shot on goal, although Mirko Vucinic's weak effort caused no alarm for Manuel Neuer.

Mandzukic picked up a harsh early booking for kicking Giorgio Chiellini's shin when competing for a 50-50 to ensure he would miss the first leg of the semi-finals.

Bayern created its first real opportunity after 14 minutes when a teasing Bastian Schweinsteiger free-kick was met by Daniel Van Buyten, but his header fell wide.

Andrea Pirlo stung the fingers of Neuer with a powerful 20-yard drive which the German pushed to safety after Claudio Marchisio was fouled by Philipp Lahm.

Bayern's Thomas Muller then half-volleyed wide from 20 yards as the play went from one end to the other.

A groggy Van Buyten departed after 35 minutes to be replaced by Jerome Boateng, who within four minutes tested Gianluigi Buffon with a half-volley.

Bayern was starting to control possession and Arjen Robben hit the post after 57 minutes from the edge of the area as the Juventus back-line dropped deep.

And eight minutes later the German champion was ahead. A curling Schweinsteiger delivery was met by Martinez at the far post and, although Buffon saved his attempt, Mandzukic was in the right place to head home.

With the tie effectively over, Alessandro Matri replaced Fabio Quagliarella and Mauricio Isla was introduced for Simone Padoin, but they could do little to help the Italian side going forward.

And Pizarro was on hand in stoppage-time to stroke home from close range as Bayern was a worthy winner.

The semi-final draw will take place on Friday evening (AEST) and you can see it LIVE right here on The World Game website.

Messi was left on the bench as he failed to fully overcome the hamstring injury suffered in the 2-2 first leg draw in Paris last week.

PSG took full advantage with the majority of goalscoring chances in the opening half before it went ahead five minutes after the interval through Javier Pastore.

Messi was summoned to the pitch on 62 minutes to the delight of the home fans, and the Catalan side lifted its intensity immediately.

The Argentine ace started the move that resulted in Pedro's equaliser on 71 minutes.

Barca progressed on the away-goals rule to join Bayern Munch, which accounted for Juventus 2-0 at home and 4-0 on aggregate, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in a Spain v Germany final four.

The semi-final draw will take place on Friday evening (AEST) and you can see it LIVE right here on The World Game website.

Cesc Fabregas began in place of Messi while Adriano was chosen at centre-back, deputising for the injured Javier Mascherano and Carles Puyol.

Xavi almost gave the host the dream start from a 30-yard free-kick, but his effort went just inches wide of the near post.

PSG did not take long to have its first attempts on goal.

A lively Ezequiel Lavezzi tested Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes after two minutes and then raced towards goal after getting the ball from Sergio Busquets. He was stopped by Gerard Pique, who did exceptionally well to recover.

Iniesta tried an audacious lob from over 40 yards out as he saw Salvatore Sirigu off his line, but the ball sailed a couple of feet over the bar.

Lucas Moura then forced Valdes into a save, and a few moments later Lavezzi shot over the bar in a period of surprising superiority from the visitor, which was allowed a fair amount of possession of the ball and space.

Barca did not create another chance until 21 minutes, when Pedro forced a low save from Sirigu and the ball fell to the forward again, who hit the side netting.

Lavezzi then missed PSG's best chance of the half, forcing his way into the area but poking his shot straight at the legs of Valdes.

The goalkeeper had to be alert later on when Lucas headed the ball towards the top corner after a cross from the byline by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the Catalan stopper tipped it away for a corner.

Barcelona's first-half performance was well below its usual high standards, and although it had 13 shots on goal, could only hit the target once.

The second period initially followed the script of the first half, with Barca controlling possession but creating little danger.

The difference was that once PSG created a chance of its own, it made it count.

Ibrahimovic played Pastore in with a wonderful ball to the left-hand side and the Argentine surged forward ahead of Barca's line of defence, controlled the ball and clipped the ball into the net, over an oncoming Valdes.

Dani Alves had a chance to equalise shortly after the goal, but blazed over the bar, and then Pastore could have doubled the lead, but scuffed his shot wide from close range after a pass from Ibrahimovic.

With Barca needing to score and looking unlikely to do so, it brought on the man who has scored 51 times for it in the Primera Division and in Europe this season.

Messi was brought on in place of Fabregas, while Adriano, on a yellow card and carrying a knock, was replaced by Marc Bartra.

Messi had an immediate impact on Barca's spirit and gave it an edge in attack.

Sirigu had to dive low to stop an effort from Iniesta and the ball fell to Messi, who could not get his shot beyond the first defender.

Pastore then had a third effort, this time shooting just over the bar, before Barca pounced.

Messi created the danger on the edge of the area to play in David Villa before the ball landed at the feet of Pedro, who lashed the ball into the top corner.

It was only Barca's third attempt on target but it was struck with such power that Sirigu was left with no chance.

The goal allowed Barca to relax and forced PSG to come forward and attack.

It struggled in this new role and Carlo Ancelotti brought on David Beckham with seven minutes remaining to add to its creativity.

Barca coach Tito Vilanova took off Villa for defensive midfielder Alex Song as it sought to hold on and progress to the final four.

Barca breathed a huge sigh of relief when the final whistle sounded as it celebrated becoming the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions League six times in a row.

They will, however, be praying that Messi will be at full fitness when they do contest the final four of the competition, because they were a shadow of their usual selves without him and only stopped themselves exiting the tournament when he appeared.

The Ukraine club's fans are alleged to have behaved in a racist manner in Dynamo's UEFA Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain in November last year and then again in the UEFA Europa League against Bordeaux in February.

And UEFA, whose general secretary Gianni Infantino announced proposed sanctions of banning players for a minimum of 10 matches if they are found guilty of a racist offence, has taken a dim view of the fans' conduct although the club has lodged an appeal.

"FC Dynamo Kiev have been ordered to play their next two UEFA competition home matches behind closed doors due to racist conduct by supporters," a statement on UEFA's official website read.

"The first match behind closed doors applies to the next UEFA club competition match for which the club would qualify, while the sanction for the second match is deferred for a probationary period of three years.

"The Ukrainian club has lodged an appeal against this decision. The date of the UEFA Appeals Body hearing has yet to be decided."

Infantino also said there would be partial closure of stadiums for a first incident of racist abuse by fans and a full closure for a second offence.

The proposed sanctions would affect all matches in European competition.

Madrid looked to be cruising through to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League after Ronaldo's early goal put it 1-0 up at the Ali Sami Yen stadium and 4-0 up on aggregate against the Turkish opponent.

However, Jose Mourinho's men ended up having to weather a second-half storm as Gala struck three times in 15 minutes through Emmanuel Eboue, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba to leave the outcome of the tie in some doubt.

Gala continued to press in the final quarter of an hour but could not find another breakthrough and Ronaldo settled the contest with his second goal in stoppage time, making it 5-3 on aggregate.

Ronaldo, whose side lost Alvaro Arbeloa to a red card late on, believes Madrid should never have allowed things to get as close as they did.

He said: "It was our own fault things became complicated. In football you cannot give anything away and you need to play for 90 minutes.

"What happened here cannot be repeated in the future."

The Portugal international added: "We're happy to have gone through. We've fulfilled the objective and now we wait and see who we're drawn against."

His team-mate Pepe added on Madrid's official website: "The team fought hard and made a big effort.

"We are very happy to get through the tie. In the first half we started very well. It's true that we dropped the intensity a little in the second half and we weren't as good, but we improved at the end.

"The most important thing is that we have got through to the next round."

The French league leader salvaged a 2-2 draw from the first leg of the quarter-final tie in Paris last week thanks to an injury-time equaliser from Blaise Matuidi.

Ancelotti is under no illusions about the task presented by facing what he believes is the best club team in the world, but is nevertheless relishing the challenge.

"I'm not worried about Barcelona, we are delighted to be here because it's going to be a fantastic night," the Italian said.

"We may not have much of a chance of winning but we have a small chance.

"We played well in the first leg, against a fantastic team, and this time we will try to take advantage of the chances we get."

Barcelona's record scorer Lionel Messi is a doubt owing to a hamstring injury he picked up in the first leg, but Ancelotti says his tactics will not be affected by Argentina international.

"The strategy won't change if Messi plays or if he doesn't play," Ancelotti said.

"The key is being confident and showing personality. Playing in the Nou Camp will be difficult, because we will be playing against the best player and the best club in the world, but we have to think about our strong points, not our errors.

"We will use all our best qualities. We have to be strong and solid, pass the ball around well when we have it, and we need to be patient."

The coach did not reveal whether David Beckham, who started the first leg, would play but did defend the former England captain from the criticism he received for his performance in Paris.

"Some players get criticised while others don't," he said.

"I'm happy with Beckham. That doesn't mean he's going to play tomorrow, but if I'm happy with how he's been playing, then he can be too."

Thiago Motta, who missed the first leg with a groin injury, has not yet been declared fit, and Ancelotti exercised caution when talking about whether he would play.

"He's an important player and it would help us if he was available, but this isn't the end of the season, we've got some other important games left and we need to bear that in mind too," he said.

Fullback Maxwell, who played for Barcelona between 2009 and 2012, said PSG's performance in the first leg gives it reason to believe it can win, and called on his team-mates to stay focused when faced with a team that will have considerably more possession than it.

"Here you have to show a lot of courage and personality to deal with that, because Barca control the majority of the game," he said.

"We have to be clever with the ball when we get it back. We will try to be aggressive from the first minute and attack with strength."

Having left Los Angeles Galaxy, Beckham signed a five-month contract with PSG in January and has since made eight appearances for the Qatari-owned outfit, including a start in its 2-2 UEFA Champions League quarter-final, first leg against Barcelona in Paris last week.

Speaking about the 37-year-old former Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan midfielder ahead of Wednesday evening's (Thursday morning AEST) second leg, Ibrahimovic told CNN: "I think he has been very important for us.

"Because in the situation that we are in now, the club has been changing from a normal club to a top club, and Beckham gives you some kind of confidence.

"He has the responsibility, on the pitch and off the pitch, to lead the way for these two months (which) is very important.

"He has a quality, a big quality; he has a touch that I haven't seen many players have. And he is very elegant when he plays."

Beckham and Ibrahimovic are the two most high-profile among a number of notable signings PSG has made over the past couple of years after its Qatari takeover.

And Ibrahimovic, a former Barcelona player who joined the Ligue 1 leader from AC Milan last northern summer, admits he is glad the ex-England captain is now helping share the spotlight.

"I think it's good for me that Beckham came so he gets more attention than me, so they leave me a little bit alone," Sweden international Ibrahimovic said.

"When I came here everybody said 'don't worry, as a football player you can walk in the city and nobody will disturb you. Because as a football player here it is not like it is in Italy'.

"But since the day I came here it's been totally stressful. Everybody is chasing me with their scooters; I don't even walk in the streets.

"When David came he got more of the media attraction, so that's good because he takes care of that and I can play football, focus on football."

The Argentina international had to be substituted at half-time during last week's UEFA Champions League quarter-final, first leg at Parc de Princes after picking up a hamstring injury.

Messi was unable to play any part in Barcelona's 5-0 league win over Real Mallorca at the weekend but Roura is hopeful the star forward, who scored the opener in last week's 2-2 in Paris, will feature in the return at the Nou Camp.

"We hope he'll be able to play," Roura told a press conference.

"He is reacting well but we will have to wait a while before we know how he feels and what the doctors' tests say."

Roura warned, however, that the club is not prepared to take any risks with Messi, who has scored eight goals in eight starts in the Champions League season.

"I've said before that if a player plays it is because it has been guaranteed that he is capable of playing. We will see what happens, there is still a bit of time left," he said.

Barcelona was leading 2-1 in the first leg until it conceded an equaliser in injury-time, and Roura did not hide his disappointment about the result.

Barca can qualify for the semi-finals by drawing the second leg in the Nou Camp either 0-0 or 1-1, but Roura promised his side would go looking for victory.

"Not winning in France left a bad taste in our mouths, but we have to go out and win the match, as if it were a final," he said.

"We won't speculate and we'll go out to win the game from the start. Then, according to how the game turns out, we'll see what we do."

Midfielder Andres Iniesta defended Messi's prominent role in the side, but emphasised that the team can cope without him - as demonstrated by the weekend demolition of Mallorca.

Asked by reporters if the Catalan side suffers from 'Messi-dependence', Iniesta said: "Without a doubt, we depend on Messi in the sense that he is a fundamental player for us. When he plays, he's our number one player.

"But we aren't dependent on Messi - he benefits from the way in which the team plays.

"Of course, it's different when he's not playing, but we have a squad and everyone that is in that squad can play and perform to the highest level."

Barcelona is bidding to reach its sixth consecutive Champions League semi-final.

It was eliminated at the last-four stage by Chelsea last year, and Iniesta is keen to avoid a repeat.

He said: "Sometimes we play well, other times we don't.

"What we don't lack is the ambition to get into the semi-finals and to then try and get into the final, which eluded us last year.

"I'm confident that we can continue to be successful."

Juan Carlos Garcia-Valdecasas helped carry out the 33-year-old's transplant a year ago and says to see him return to playing top-class professional sport is unprecedented.

"My first objective was that he would continue to live and enjoy a high quality of life with his family," he told Catalan radio station RAC1.

"Now we can say that the recuperation has been a miracle, an extraordinary case, because precedents like his don't exist.

"The majority of patients can live a normal life, even 90 per cent have an extraordinary quality of life, but his case is not normal.

"Medicine continues to set new goals and Abidal has marked another one for us going forward."

The Frenchman returned to the pitch for the first time in 14 months towards the end of Barca's 5-0 win over Real Mallorca.

Garcia-Valdecasas says the player may even be in the right physical shape to take part in Barca's crucial UEFA Champions League quarter-final, second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.

"He is a Barcelona player and is in the squad. He wants to be there, he wants to play and therefore I don't think we should treat him in a different manner," he said.

"I haven't spoken with him but he could perfectly well play against PSG."

Garcia-Valdecasas also confirmed that Abidal's statement at the weekend that he would like to continue playing for a couple more years was perfectly attainable.

"If everything goes well, he could continue for two more years."