Champions League is the greatest club tournament in the world, but this semifinal matchup has more flavor than just these two sides.

This tie is a matchup between two teams from leagues that really want to send out the message that they, too, deserve the spotlight of the big boys.

Bayern and Lyon want to make the statement that the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 are the two most exciting leagues in the world right now. Forget the Premiership. Forget La Liga. Forget Serie A.  The Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have produced some incredible talent and have also found themselves in some intriguing race at both ends of the table.  Although Marseille have truly cleaned up that mess, that was far from that case about a month ago when Montpellier was in the thick of it.  From top to bottom these leagues have been competitive in both Champions League as well as Europa League; especially the Germans.

These are two of the more dangerous teams in Europe and no one is giving them credit for it. Or at least this is the way they are portraying Tuesday's match to be. For many, this tie is the undercard to the main event. To be honest, they are doing themselves a great injustice.

Bayern Munich, based on their form right now could beat Barcelona and Inter. Lyon, although the argument would be tougher to make, we could say that they would give either team a run for their money in a 90-minute encounter.  Scary would be putting lightly the form that Bayern have right now in Europe.  Arjen Robben is a player that should be considered for FIFA World Player of the Year.  He has finally shown the world what he can do when his temper is in check and when he can play within a team.

I think Florentino Pérez' decision to ditch him had something to do with this.  

Lyon will have to play better than they did against Real Madrid when they step onto the pitch at Stade Gerland. Claude Puel himself said that the team need to be "enterprising" if they plan to see themselves with a shot at heading back to the Santiago Bernabéu in a few weeks.

Lyon will be missing Jeremy Toulalan and that will be a mighty big blow if they expect to keep Arjen Robben and the boys off the scoreboard.   Franck Ribéry will be missed by the Bavarians, but there are other players offensively who have taken the baton from him throughout the season.