Barcelona set for Mission Impossible

CAN THEY DO IT? Barcelona players take part in a training session ahead of their Champions League semi-final second-leg clash against Bayern Munich. (AFP)Reuters/MadridIf Barcelona require extra inspiration as they prepare their bid to overturn a 4-0 Champions League semi-final deficit at home to Bayern Munich tonight, they need look no further than La Liga rivals Deportivo La Coruna. Depor pulled off one of the most sensational comebacks in Europe’s elite club competition back in the 2003-04 season when they thrashed AC Milan 4-0 in their quarter-final second leg in La Coruna to shock the reigning continental champions and progress to the last four 5-4 on aggregate. Uruguayan forward Walter Pandiani scored the opening goal in the fifth minute at the Riazor on that memorable April night, when the Galician club stunned a Milan side featuring Paolo Maldini, Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko. Now 37 and playing in the Spanish third tier for Majorca-based Atletico Baleares, Pandiani believes Barca will also need an early goal if they are to have any chance of reaching next month’s final at London’s Wembley stadium. “Scoring so early in the match was key for the team to gain confidence,” Pandiani, whose goal-scoring prowess earned him the nickname ‘The Rifle’, said. “If you don’t manage to score in the first half, as soon as possible, then you start to rush things,” he added. “That early goal gave us the peace of mind to continue playing well.” Barca’s chances of keeping alive their bid for a third European crown in five years may appear remote, especially as they failed to score in Munich, but Pandiani said Depor were in a similar situation in 2004. “Even if we were achieving important things in the Champions League nobody believed in us, especially because it was Milan we were up against,” he said. “But we believed in ourselves and our fans were also there to spur us on. The excitement in the dressing-room at halftime showed that it would be difficult for them to do us damage that night if we continued with the same mentality.” Only three clubs have overturned a four-goal first-leg deficit in UEFA competition and Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes was on the losing side on one of those occasions. He was in charge of the Borussia Moenchengladbach side that beat Real Madrid 5-1 at home in the 1985-86 UEFA Cup third round only to lose the return game 4-0. “It was the worst moment of my career. I no longer wanted to be a football coach,” Heynckes said. “It was worse than the death threats I received later in my career.” Elimination for Barca would leave La Liga as their only chance of silverware this season and, with an 11-point lead over current champions Real Madrid with five games left, they are close to a fourth title in five seasons. However, a domestic league crown would be scant consolation for a team who have set a new standard for European clubs in recent seasons and won the Champions League in 2009 and 2011.Probable TeamsBarcelona: 1-Victor Valdes; 2-Daniel Alves, 3-Gerard Pique, 15-Marc Bartra, 21-Adriano; 6-Xavi, 16-Sergio Busquets, 8-Andres Iniesta; 17-Pedro, 10-Lionel Messi, 7-David Villa Bayern Munich: 1-Manuel Neuer; 21-Philipp Lahm, 17-Jerome Boateng, 4-Dante, 27-David Alaba; 31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, 8-Javi Martinez; 10-Arjen Robben, 25-Thomas Mueller, 7-Franck Ribery; 9-Mario Mandzukic