Barcelona vs Bayern Munich - Potentially the Game of the Year

By the time this season's abridged Champions League was whittled down to its final eight, the remaining clubs could boast ten big-eared trophies between them; five for Barcelona, five for Bayern Munich.

While three of this year's semi-finalists will be in search of a maiden top-tier continental crown, Friday's quarter-final pits two of the competition's most successful and storied teams against one another.

However, these two European Goliaths meet each other in the midst of wildly contrasting trajectories. Barcelona are a rapidly ageing side, rife with both tactical inadequacies and boardroom strife, that are beholden to the genius of one player past his peak.

Bayern, on the other hand, have been utterly imperious for the past nine months, inspired by the goals of arguably Europe's best striker and have such an incessantly competent hierarchy that the club can still thrive on and off the pitch even when their president is sent to prison.

On the face of it, this match-up is poised to be a rather one-sided affair - though that may make for enthralling entertainment. Much like a car wreak or the Dundies, the sight of one team emphatically and ruthlessly dismantling another is one you wan't to look away from, but can't.

The perennial German champions are not a side contented by a narrow lead. Since Hans-Dieter Flick's appointment as manager in November, Bayern have rifled four or more goals past their opponents on no fewer than 15 occasions - with Chelsea the latest to be burdened by the brunt of the Bavarian behemoths' attacking might.

While the recent displays of each side certainly prompts the prediction of a mauling, history also shows that when these clubs meet, one often registers a convincing victory. Every time the two FCBs have faced off in a Champions League knockout tie, one side has prevailed in one of the legs by at least a three-goal margin.

Bayern and Barça have only faced off in UEFA competition in five previous seasons, yet each meeting has preceded (and often instigated) a seismic turn of events.

Barcelona's 2-1 loss to Bayern at Camp Nou in the 1996 UEFA Cup semi-finals provided club president Josep Lluís Núñez with an excuse to dismiss the club's revolutionary manager Johan Cruyff after the pair's relationship had deteriorated beyond repair.

Their next meeting two seasons later came in the Champions League group stage. Two victories for Bayern home and away effectively consigned Barça to an early exit, denying the Catalans the historic chance to reach the final, held in their own stadium, in their centenary year.

The winner of the past three meetings between the pair has gone on to claim the fabled treble of league, domestic and European cup. History could repeat itself again if Bayern do claim Europe's premier prize.

Two years on from a 7-0 aggregate unravelling, Barcelona were able to exact some revenge in 2015 as they dumped Bayern - led by their former manager Pep Guardiola - out of the semi-finals.

Lionel Messi netted two of his four career goals against Bayern in the first leg of that tie and - in the half-decade which has passed since - Barcelona have become even more reliant on their Argentine superstar.

In what can justifiably be described as an off-season for Barça's number ten, Messi has either scored or assists 55 goals in 43 matches across all competitions.

The chinks in Bayern's armour are few and far between but the gap between centre-back David Alaba and left-back Alphonso Davies in the backline may represent the thermal exhaust port in the Bavarian Death Star.

Davies has been a sensation this season for Bayern, flying up and down the left flank to devastating effect. However, the Canada international can leave a chasm between himself and Alaba down that side.

If Barcelona can get the ball to Messi - who naturally hovers around that area - when Davies is out of position, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner would be well placed to attack the backline. (That is until the teenager christened 'FC Bayern's roadrunner' comes charging back.)

Messi is the obvious answer to the tricky question of why Barcelona will win the Champions League, but not the only one.

Arturo Vidal, whose talents are known all-too well in Germany after three seasons with Bayern, is crucial to Barcelona's slim chances of progressing beyond the overwhelming favourites.

The enigmatic South American is the epitome of 'controlled mayhem'. Vidal's storming runs into the penalty area provide a much-needed different dimension to a Barcelona side which so often looks one-paced. And despite being 33, Vidal is far and away Barcelona's most active and effective pressing force.

Messi is well aware of the added bonus the Chilean brings, succinctly describing the chaos which ensues whenever Vidal steps onto the field: "He is a player who, when he enters, catches, recovers, arrives, plays."

Whether Vidal and Messi can mask the rest of the side's deficiencies and actually overcome the Bayern juggernaut remains to be seen.

Yet, watching them try may provide the best entertainment of the year.