Liverpool were today paired with West German champions Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the European Cup. The first leg will be played at Anfield with the return in the 75,000 capacity futuristic Olympic Stadium in Munich, scene of the 1972 Olympic Games. Liverpool will be disappointed at being drawn to play the Anfield leg first as their preference is usually to deal with the away leg first. Real Madrid and Inter Milan meet in the other semi-final, with the first leg of each pairing to be played on Wednesday April 8 and the second leg on April 22. Today's draw in Zurich drew the two Latin teams together and the two Saxon teams together, thus setting up a fascinating clash of style and philosophy when the two winners emerge to take their place in the final in Paris on May 27. Bayern, the last non-English side to hold the trophy, are rated favourites to win it again by many European observers.

They are currently embroiled in a race with SV Hamburg for the Bundesliga title and their team includes the reigning European footballer of the Year, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Liverpool general secretary Peter Robinson commented: "Any of the three teams would have been difficult, but Bayern are a particularly strong side. We are in for two tremendously attractive games." Bayern, second in the German league table, are away to leaders Hamburg tomorrow and Liverpool aim to have their Euro-spy Tom Saunders at the game. "Our only problem is getting a ticket," joked Mr Robinson "the whole of West Germany want to see tomorrow's game." In the UEFA Cup there is another Anglo-German clash, Ipswich are drawn against 1FC Koln.

The brains behind Bayern Munich's bid to win the European Cup wears a cloak of disdain for the two remaining semi-finalists this year. Paul Breitner, the thoughtful, articulate Bavarian whose play illustrates his elegant approach to life says: "Liverpool against Bayern Munich is the European Cup Final being played in the semi-final. Inter Milan and Real Madrid are fortunate because no one wanted to draw Liverpool. Of the last four, Liverpool are the best and Bayern are the next best team. We would have preferred to play Inter or Real in the semi final for it would be best to play only one game against Liverpool. We know the Liverpool team very well and I am sure Liverpool know as much about us. Whoever qualifies from our semi-final should be the strongest team in the Final." Breitner guides the young Bayern Munich side with the experience and aplomb to be expected of such a general. The West German international played in his country's winning 1974 World Cup side and then had experience of foreign football with a three year spell at Real Madrid. As a player of great skill, experience, influence and guile, he has no peer in the Bayern side. Breitner it is who makes the bullets for Karl Heinz Rummenigge, European footballer of the year, to fire in the Bayern attack. Breitner sees Bayern's tactics at Anfield as built around the quick break out. He says: "Our style of play is to use the counter-attack. So it is an advantage for us to have the first match away from home. We can make a good preparation for the return in Munich if we can manage one goal on the counter attack in the first match. It will be a hard game for us at Liverpool because we have little experience. Few on our side have the experience of European Cup games or international matches. We have a young team and that is an advantage to Liverpool because they are so experienced." Breitner is disappointed with Bayern's current form and results confirm his depression. "We have several players not at their best and it is a problem with the matches against Liverpool so close," he says.

But with Breitner to pull the strings from midfield, all is possible for Bayern. At last Breitner had found the form which has eluded him for much of the season mainly through a series of frustrating injuries which have ruined his attempts at consistency. "I believe I have played quite well recently," he says in his slow careful English "I started after the mid-season break with two or three bad games. It was the same as earlier in the season when I had so many problems with injuries. But in the last few weeks I have played better football and now I am playing the way I want to." Breitner, a keen observer of European football and its trends, knows of Liverpool's problems this winter. "We have had them watched and I think perhaps they are not in their best form of this season. But I do not think it is a poor European Cup. It is wrong to say that because I believe the competition is stronger than in the last two years. It is a better semi-final stage than last year and much better than two years ago. I think the European Cup is getting stronger again. Of course, it is not possible that Bayern are as good as when they won the trophy in 1974, 1975 and 1976. We had to change the team and much of the club after that fine side broke up. Now we have a young team that is still learning. Maybe, in the future, it can be another great Bayern side. I do not know. But it is too early to be great for there is much youth within our team at this time."

Breitner's gentle charm and immense courtesy hides a great determination and strength on the field. A deep thinker about life and the game he plays, Breitner can match footballing talent with the ability to think through the tightest situation. Hence, his generalship of the German side for he is the cog which is so vital to the German wheel. Without him, Rummenigge looks less than half the performer, without him the young players look in vain for such direction, experience and guidance. The cares of the Bayern side rest easily on his shoulders. Paul Breitner has learned to accept many things in life and he is, in many ways, very different from the rebellious young man who turned heads and raised eyebrows through the fatherland when his unusual beliefs and interests became known years ago. Breitner was a reluctant convert to the typical German lifestyle which encompasses a great drive for wealth and success in business. Years ago he read Dostoyevsky and thought deeply about the role of the young man in German society. He asked questions which seemed rebellious at the time but which proved to be a remarkably astute and accurate forerunner to the mood of the current day German youth. "I read Dostoyevsky - for this I am called a rebel," he once said to me "people do not understand. They say things which are not true." Ignorance of the man and his deep feelings led to misunderstandings. But Breitner has been understood much more and learned to adapt himself rather better to accepted German practices since his return to Germany from Spain. Nevertheless, he still describes his time with Real as "the happiest days of my life" - for the commendable reason he was able to spend so many hours of the day with his wife and young children. Now, Breitner looks forward with enthusiasm to the European Cup semi-final. "It had been a frustrating time for me so much of this season. I was injured a lot for four or five months but now I feel very well." If Bob Paisley's troops are astute, that news will make Liverpool rest a little less easily as the semi-final approaches.

Liverpool could be on for a victorious "double" this year - adding the European Cup to the League Cup already stored away in the bulging trophy room. That is the fervent hope of ex-Anfield man Tommy Smith, veteran of many an overseas campaign as the Reds prepare for next Wednesday's semi-final clash. Said Tom: "I think Liverpool have one over on them because we have had so many results against the Germans. We have only been beaten by one West German side in 15 years (Bayern in the 1971/72 European Cup Winners Cup). Even in the European Super Cup, with Kevin Keegan playing for Hamburg, we beat them 6-0!. When the draw first came out, I was pleased because we do not get much out of the Italians or Spaniards. I think with the Germans it will be more an English type of game - and Liverpool are the best team in England. They are coming back into form again and have the League Cup under their belt and now are looking for the double." Tom also thinks the fact that the first leg is at home is in Liverpool's favour. "I would rather play at home first because you know exactly what you have to do," he said "you can set your stall out against them. Also, I do not think German keepers are good enough to go a few games without letting a goal in."

The tide could be turning against West Germany, the nation which for the last two years has dominated European football. Despite the success of Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the Champions cup, the Bundesliga has had strong claims to be considered the most powerful league in Europe, if not in the world. Their clubs have dominated the UEFA Cup - the competition which tests a country's strength in dept - and their players have ruled supreme at international level. Last season West Germany provided all four semi-finalists in the UEFA Cup with Eintracht Frankfurt eventually beating Borussia Monchengladbach in the final. The year before there was three German teams in the semi-finals of the same competition, with Monchengladbach beating Red Star Belgrade in the final. Also, within the space of the last two years, SV Hamburg, helped by Kevin Keegan, reached the European Cup final and Fortuna Dusseldorf have been beaten finalists in the Cup Winners Cup. At international level, Jupp Darwell took over from Helmut Schoen and put together a run of 23 matches unbeaten which included the European Championship last summer.

This season, though, has not been so easy for the Germans. Bayern and Cologne - who play Ipswich tonight in the UEFA Cup - are their only two survivors at the semi-final stage, and the national team were disappointing in the Mundialito in Uruguay. Like us, the Bundesliga has been badly hit by falling attendances. Liverpool have met German opposition 10 times in their years in Europe, the score reading eight wins for Liverpool and two to West Germany. One defeat was to Bayern in the Cup Winners Cup in 1971 and the other was in the final of the same competition at Hampden Park which Borussia Dortmund won 2-1. Recalling that game today Bill Shankly said: "We should have won because it was a bad ground, the lights were awful, and we gave away two bad goals we would normally never have given away. And, if we had won, then the collection of trophies at Anfield really would be complete because the Cup Winners Cup is now the only one Liverpool have not won."

After surviving a season of frustration and disappointment, Liverpool are poised for what their manager Bob Paisley calls "the real thing" at Anfield tonight. And as the veteran of more than 100 European cup ties reviewed his troops in readiness to tackle Bayern Munich in the European Cup semi-final he predicted: "This could be another St. Etienne with a single goal deciding who reaches the Final. This stage of a major European competition is special, the sort of thing that is really worth playing for if you have got any pride - and our fellows have. Injuries or not, we could have put out 25 people tonight. Lads like Kenny Dalglish, Ray Kennedy, Phil Thompson and Graeme Souness would go out there on a wooden leg if I asked them. We have had a lot of frustrations this season, with so many injuries, but think the worst is over. We looked a lot livelier in our last two or three games and there is an air of excitement here now. You can feel it in the corridors and see it in the way players walk. Whoever plays tonight will give a good account of themselves."

One of the most significant features of the last fortnight has been the arrival of an exciting new striking force, the partnership between Scottish Kenny Dalglish and Welsh novice Ian Rush. And Mr. Paisley revealed it would have appeared on the scene much earlier but for the repeated knocks suffered by Dalglish; "Ian's performance in the League Cup Final gave us a bit extra because he had West Ham in a lot of trouble," he said "his composure did not surprise us - if anything, we want him to lose a bit of that - but he was very sharp and fitted in well with Kenny. I would have pitched him in before but Kenny was having trouble with injuries and we did not know if he would have to have an operation. Now he's alright again and he has certainly played much better in the last two games. That may be because his injury has eased or it may partly be to Ian's help. Probably a bit of both. lan's not had any previous experience of Europe - except for a holiday in Majorca - but this game is at Anfield and the atmosphere there should lift him if he has the ability."

The chances of Liverpool becoming the first British club to reach three European Cup finals became helplessly, perhaps hopelessly, caught up in Bayern Munich's defence at Anfield last night when the West Germans forced a goalless draw in the opening leg of their semi-final. If Liverpool are to make the Final in Paris next month, they will now have to create another kind of precedent by winning in Munich in a fortnight's time, for Bayern have yet to be beaten at home in the competition. While it would be unwise to underestimate Liverpool's ability to overcome Bayern in the Olympic Stadium, few who saw last night's match would give much for their hopes of survival. They badly missed Souness, again kept out of the side by a back injury and without his strength and subtlety, not to mention his shooting, much of their football was bland and predictable. While it is true that the side fielded by Liverpool last night was the same as the one that overwhelmed West Ham to win the League Cup the week before, the quality and strength of the opposition was rather different. It was really a case of be-done-by-as-you-did. For nearly two decades Liverpool teams have travelled abroad and frustrated opponents with a tight, almost claustrophobic style and carefully-paced possession football. This was precisely Bayern's achievement. The Germans came to sit tight, fill space and await opportunities to counter-attack. They did not mark man for man; instead they marked zonally, and cracked down on opposing forwards after the English fashion. Faced with this Liverpool struggled to thread their attacks through the crowd and at times they must have felt as though they were meeting themselves in an away leg. No doubt Liverpool would have fared better had not Junghans, the 23-year-old Bayern goalkeeper, been equal to two shots from Dalglish in the first half-hour. After only five minutes Rush sent Dalglish in from the right for a shot that Junghans did extremely well to push past the far post.

In the 22nd minute, Ray Kennedy met a high ball from Thompson with a firm header down to the feet of Dalglish, who again faced Junghans and lost, producing a well-struck shot only to see the goalkeeper parry the ball. These instances apart, Liverpool seldom looked like scoring. Before half-time Lee, McDermott and the two Kennedys did start to find a way through the outer limits of Bayern's cover but the final passes tended to be inaccurate, the shots weak or wild. In the second half Heighway replaced McDermott, who had dislocated a thumb earlier, and the effect was to give Liverpool more width but less impetus. There were more surges forward, but increasingly Liverpool's attacks petered out before they came within scoring range. At the last all Liverpool had left was a vain appeal for a penalty as Dalglish hurtled over a tackle by Augenthaler. By that time Bayern might well have been in front. Their attack spent most of the first half-hour falling offside; in the second half their breakaways were sporadic. However in the 15 minutes leading up to half- time they showed the speed, subtlety and imagination in attack that bode ill for Liverpool in Munich. First Breitner, an increasing influence in midfield, sent Rummenigge through a square defence, his speed on the ball outstripped Clemence's sprint off his line and only the intervention of Hansen saved the situation for Liverpool. Not long after this Hoeness produced a shot from 25 yards, the force of which almost took the ball through Clemence's hands. Ten minutes before half-time Niedermayer, collecting a sliced clearance from Ray Kennedy, swerved a shot away from Clemence and against the cross bar. With that Bayern seemed content to rest their case, remembering perhaps that in the Cup Winners Cup 10 years ago they forced a scoreless draw at Anfield and then won the return game 3-1. Certainly Liverpool will do well to prevent another Bavarian victory this time.

Liverpool's recurrent injury problems cropped up again last night to mar their cup game. The absence of their two outstanding midfield players cost them the chance to establish a worthwhile advantage against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their European Cup semi-final. As anticipated, Graeme Souness was unable to resume following a niggling back injury and, within five minutes of the kick off, leading scorer Terry McDermott dislocated his thumb and had to go off for treatment. Although he resumed, the injury obviously hampered him considerably and he was withdrawn to be replaced by the veteran Steve Heighway. This early set-back seemed to upset Liverpool considerably and, after a lively start, when they might well have grabbed a couple of goals, they gradually lost their rhythm. With Ian Rush finding a first class German defence a very different proposition than anything he had previously encountered and Heighway lacking a yard or two of pace these days, Liverpool's attacking movements were strictly limited and, long before the end, had become dangerously predictable. Had Kenny Dalglish not been foiled by Bayern's excellent goalkeeper Junghans twice in the first 20 minutes, it is possible that Liverpool would have gained the necessary momentum to sweep forward to victory. However Junghans, only playing because of the injury suffered by Muller last week, turned a fierce right foot shot around the post after only three minutes and then, somehow, got in the way of a ferocious left foot volley to leave the Scottish star pounding the turf in frustration. Henceforth, Liverpool's chances were few and far between as the Germans gradually settled down and threw a startling protective blanket round their penalty area. With Augenthaler and Weiner dominant in the air, Liverpool were able to make relatively little impression, and for much of the second half had to be satisfied with the occasional shot on goal from 25 yards or more.

Indeed, if the visitors had not come with the obvious determination to concentrate on achieving a goalless draw they might well have gone into the second leg with at least a one goal advantage. Clemence had to make excellent saves from Rummenigge and Augenthaler but even he was beaten by a splendid shot from Niedermayer after 35 minutes which rebounded from the cross bar. An even greater escape occurred midway through the second half when Augenthaler ran right through the middle of the Liverpool defence, only for the move to be halted when Breitner, rather foolishly, ran offside while attempting to make certain of a goal. On several occasions the Germans bewildered Liverpool with their neat inter-passing in which Breitner and Durenberger played a prominent part and could well have caused far more trouble than they actually did. However, they were clearly delighted with what they did achieve and will start the return match full of confidence. Souness was especially missed because his deputy, Jimmy Case, had an unhappy game and was rarely able to make much impression down the right flank. He certainly contributed two or three crunching tackles which were probably made look much worse than they were by the Germans' acrobatic reactions. Dalglish certainly did his best with limited support but Rush found the going increasingly difficult and McDermott's ability to pop up in open spaces was badly missed. Now Liverpool face the Herculean task of winning the return in Munich, where the German champions have not lost a home tie in more than 20 matches. A great deal will depend on their ability to get players like Souness and McDermott fit in time and, if they are successful, there is no reason why Liverpool should still not manage to make the final. However, they will certainly have to summon up all their skill and experience and take their chances as they have only rarely taken them this season. Entertainment rating: two stars.

Liverpool captain Phil Thompson said: "Munich's biggest failing will be if they think the game is dead and buried. To see their faces at the end, it was clear that some of their players thought they were as good as in the Final. But there is no way we are going to lie down over there."

Bayern Munich's Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: "The door to the final is wide open. We played a very clever game."

Liverpool manager Bob Paisley said: "It is not over yet. Bayern played well to contain us but they will have to come out and attack us in the second leg. We never got any momentum going because we lost influential members of the team. Graeme Souness broke down in training. Terry McDermott has torn ligaments in the hand. Phil Neal has a possible broken toe and Ray Kennedy needed pain killing injections before playing."

Liverpool will spend the next two weeks fighting a desperate battle to get their star players fit for the second leg of the European Cup semi final against Bayern Munich. Frustrations at last night's goalless draw against the West German champions at Anfield was compounded by new injury problems which will present the Reds with yet another test of their famed resilience. With five first choice players nursing knocks of varying seriousness, Liverpool manager Bob Paisley will take no chances in the three First Division matches between now and the second leg against Bayern in Munich's Olympic Stadium on April 22. Terry McDermott left Anfield last night with his arm in a sling after dislocating his thumb in an awkward fall before half time. Bob Paisley fears that both he and Phil Neal, who took a painful knock on the toe, could be suffering from fractures. Also on the injured list are Graeme Souness, who felt a recurrence of his back injury after training yesterday morning and dropped out of the team, David Johnson (hamstring) and Ray Kennedy who needed a pain killing injection for a knee injury before turning out against the Germans.

The need to field his strongest team in the second leg will prompt Mr. Paisley to adopt a strictly safety-first outlook in the forthcoming league matches against Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, and Leeds United. Steve Heighway, who substituted for Terry McDermott at half-time last night, was due to see the Reds manager today to find out if he is needed for the second leg. Liverpool's injury problems have already kept Heighway at Anfield beyond the date when he was originally due to leave for a new career with Minnesota Kicks in America. He is now due to leave next Wednesday but said: "I will be more than happy to stay if I am needed. It is up to the boss." Heighway shares the Anfield view that they are still very much involved in the outcome of this semi-final, with a place in the Final in Paris on May 27, awaiting the victors. "We have got a very good chance," he said "not as good a chance as if we had won, obviously, but I did not rate Bayern as one of the better sides that have been to Anfield."