In Spanish football culture, every big game is called a "final" and there is none bigger in the quarterfinal round than Bayern Munich vs. FC Barcelona. Compared to the other ties in this round, which pit an established team against young blood, this is a true heavyweight clash.

The Bundesliga's best, Bayern Munich, have won the competition five times. In the past decade, besides the 2015/16 semifinals against Atletico Madrid, they won or lost to the eventual winner. Likewise, La Liga icons Barcelona have won it five times, two of which came this decade, and the rest of the time, they always make this quarterfinal stage at the very least.

On paper, things are balanced too. The two sides have only ever faced each other eight times in the UEFA Champions League, as it has never been in a final, this is the first time it won't be over two legs and won't be split between the Camp Nou and the Allianz Arena or the Munich Olympic Stadium. Across those four previous two-leg fixtures, Bayern and Barcelona are 2-2.

However, a closer look reveals that when these sides clash, if Bayern win, it's comprehensive home and away while Barcelona tends to struggle away after a dominant performance at home. The prime example of this is Bayern Munich's 7-0 whitewashing of Barcelona in the 2012/13 semifinals, which stands in comparison to Barca's largest win of 5-1 on aggregate.

This is important to bear in mind, not just because tonight's game takes place in the empty, neutral Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal. It's because the two sides have never faced each other with such an imbalance in form.

Barcelona won their group with four victories and two draws and looked shaky throughout, conceding in every game besides for the two 0-0s and struggled through the Round of 16; their first game against Napoli ended 1-1 and last week's return leg may have ended 3-1, however, each goal came down to pieces of individual brilliance and poor defense from the Serie A side.

It used to be that Barcelona were always a squad of excellent players, now they're a team of famous players that is more in line with rival Real Madrid's failed Galacticos era. Under Pep Guardiola, they were a well-oiled machine with Lionel Messi as the engine, now, manager Quique Setien appears to be struggling to get Messi on the same page as Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and the other superstars.

On the other end of things, Bayern Munich have been a steamroller that has crushed every team in their path. In the Group Stage, Bayern played six and won six, only conceding against Tottenham and Olympiacos as part of aggregate scores of 10-3 and 5-2.

Since manager Hansi Flick took over from Niko Kovac in November, his side have only lost twice domestically and been undefeated elsewhere, most recently dominating old rivals Chelsea 3-0 and 4-1.

These performances were reminiscent of the style of play that came under manager Jump Heynckes: totaalvoetbal ("Total football") that is dominant in possession, constantly applying forward pressure, and ending with versatile forwards. Back then, it was Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, now it's Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski.

As seen as recently as last night, when Atletico Madrid were eliminated on an 18 game unbeaten streak, a run as successful as Bayern Munich's can produce complacency, the kind which can be exploited by players and clubs who want to prove a point, such as an FC Barcelona looking to show they're better than the already eliminated Real Madrid. Or maybe it's as simple as Bayern being the best team in Europe right now and not being afraid to show it. Sometimes a steamroller is just a steamroller.