Spanish duo in need of miracle

BARCELONA-NAMPA/AP Fierce rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid are bound to a common cause, after heavy losses in the Champions League: the need to believe in miracles. Barcelona has the daunting task of overturning its 4-0 loss at Bayern Munich in their second-leg semi-final tomorrow, while Madrid faces the slightly less formidable challenge of coming back from its 4-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund tonight. No team has ever come back to win from such margins at this stage of the competition, meaning the May 25 final in 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 April 2 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 Saturday 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 on Saturday 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 % fit, Messi looked to be back after he scored a brilliant goal against Bilbao that will go down as one of his best. Madrid didn't need Ronaldo against Atletico and a side full of reserves was able to come from behind for a 2-1 victory to keep their hapless rivals winless in 25 straight derbies dating back to 1999. It's important to score early, said Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira. But we can't lose our heads because a goal from them would increase the pressure even more.