Barcelona's players wanted to draw Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich in the Champions League

The Barcelona dressing room were completely clear about the subject. Among the three teams they could have drawn in Nyon, they wanted to face Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final.

Why?

Well, inside the dressing room they had various reasons for wanting to be paired with the German champions.

First of all, and most importantly, according to the players, Bayern are the team that play football, play an open game and attack. 

Other teams, such as Juventus, would be more prepared to shut up shop, they felt, and they prefer to play in open matches. 

There were other motives, too. 

Bayern also have many players injured, or players only now on their way back from injury after being out for several months. 

Also, Barça's squad felt Bayern would be much more difficult to beat in a one-off final in Berlin in June, than in a two-legged, home and away, semi-final. 

By the time the final comes around, Bayern will have most of their players back (in theory) and the Bundesliga will have long been wrapped up. 

Then there were the personal and emotional, but equally as important, reasons. 

Inside the desseing room they have not forgot what happened against Bayern when Tito Vilanova was in charge -- the humiliating last four defeat. 

Messi was injured then, though. He came on against PSG in the previous round to set up Pedro for what proved the winning goal in the tie, but he paid for that cameo. 

This time, Barça will, hopefully, face Bayern with a fit Messi, plus Neymar and Luis Suarez. 

Finally, there is a 'morbo' aspect. These players also want to demonstrate to Guardiola they have kept his legacy intact and there is no better tribute for the disciples than defeating the teacher.

There is no doubt that all these arguments are valid reasons for explaining why the Barcelona dressing room wanted Bayern in the semi-finals.