Champions League Semi Final: Real Madrid – Bayern

After last week’s thrilling clash everything is still to play for at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night. Real Madrid will be pleased however to have got a result in a difficult away game after having been on the back foot for most of the game last week. However, as more often in recent years, their resilience and ability to withstand pressure has been phenomenal and carried them through. In recent years the second leg clashes between Real Madrid and Bayern at the Bernabeu have been entertaining and filled with controversies, we hope for a new spectacular encounter yet again. 

Real Madrid Team News

Real Madrid almost have an entirely fit squad with only David Alaba not able to play. Star Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is back in the squad and even featured over the weekend against Cadiz. Carlo Ancelotti however already mentioned that Lunin will be playing against Bayern. Courtois is not at a fitness level yet to feature in a high intensity game such as the semi final of a champions league. 

Bayern Team News

Bayern have quite a few more personnel problems ahead of the deciding second leg in the CL. Coman and Guerreiro will both miss the game tonight while also Sacha Boey, Sarr, Buchmann and Marusic are all unavailable. However, apart from Coman and potentially Guerreiro and Boey, most of the unavailable players were unlikely to appear anyways. Thomas Tuchel will be delighted that Matthijs de Ligt is available for the clash as Kim min Jae did not put in the strongest of performances in the tie last week. 

Real Madrid Form

Real Madrid managed to secure the Spanish League title over the weekend after a 3-0 win against Cadiz was followed by a Barcelona defeat against Girona. However, the title was already quite imminent and the full focus will be on tonight’s game to reach a second final in 3 years. Given Real Madrid´s immaculate record in finals they will have a big chance of winning the Champions League yet again if they manage to overcome Bayern. Which would be the 6th time in 11 years. Ancelloti´s side are virtually unbeatable this year as they are yet to be defeated in the Champions League, only 1 defeat in September of last year in the Spanish league and an extra time defeat in the Cup against Atletico. 

Bayern Form

Bayern Munich after having picked up some form domestically were yet again left disappointed after last weekend’s result. The Rekordmeister were outplayed most of the game away from home against Stuttgart and returned to Munich with a 3-1 defeat. An interesting stat of the game was that Stuttgart managed 24 shots on Bayern’s goal whereas Bayern only managed 10 attempts on goal, showcasing the difficulties Bayern had in the match. Tuchel will hope that it was just a bad day at the office and that the focus of the players was already on the Champions League clash because otherwise it is not a good sign for tonight. 

What do the stats say?

• Real Madrid have gone through against Bayern in the last 3 knockout ties. 
• Bayern have not lost in regular time to Real Madrid in the last 2 games
• Bayern scored 2 goals in both last 2 games in Bernabeu

Our verdict

This is a very exciting match up coming for us on wednesday night. The first match saw a fantastic display from 2 opposing styles end in a 2-2 draw and we expect no less tonight. Real Madrid will be seen as favourites given their performances over the last few seasons but Bayern will take confidence in the fact that the last 2 2nd leg ties they played in the Bernabeu they managed to score 2 goals in each match and won 1(in the 90 minutes, not extra time) and drew 1 of those matches.