Real Madrid and Bayern Munich Set To Lock Horns Tonight

The Allianz Arena will be the venue for tonight’s Champions League semifinal first leg between 14-time champions Real Madrid and 6-time champions Bayern Munich. Both sides will be looking to get into the final this season with Real Madrid last featuring in the final in 2022 when they won it against Liverpool while Bayern Munich last featured in the final in 2020 when they won it against PSG. 

Bayern got into the semis after knocking out Arsenal in the quarter-finals with an aggregate score of 3-2 after both legs.

Thomas Tuchel’s team are banking on going all the way to win the coveted trophy after they lost the German Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen.

Bayern Munich are second in their league and with the title already gone, focus has shifted to the Champions League.

Thomas Tuchel announced that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season after just one and a half seasons at the club.

With this in mind, he will be looking to leave on a high by bagging the Champions League trophy. Tuchel has a decent record against Real Madrid in the recent past.

In the 2020/2021 Champions League season in which he guided Chelsea to Champions League glory, Tuchel beat Real Madrid in the semi-final with a 3-1 aggregate score to go into the final and beat Manchester City.

In the 2021/2022 season, Tuchel beat Real Madrid 3-2 in the second leg, after extra time at the Bernabeu but was eliminated on aggregate after losing the first leg 3-1.

Tuchel has lifted the Champions League once with Chelsea but has gotten into one more final with Paris Saint Germain in which he lost against the team he is currently coaching, Bayern Munich.

On the other hand, Real Madrid got into the semis after beating Manchester City on post-match penalties in the quarter-finals.

Carlo Ancelotti will be looking to lift another Champions League title with Real Madrid after doing so only recently in 2022. The Spanish giants are the only Spanish team remaining in European competitions and are looking confident after knocking out the team that beat them last season.

Real Madrid have missed the services of some of their best players this season but have gotten an injury boost as Eder Militao is back into the team after a long-term injury, featuring in their 1-0 league win on Friday. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois who has also been on the sidelines has been named in the squad travelling to Germany.

Carlo Ancelotti has coached both teams in different stints but he did not lift the Champions League with Bayern Munich.

Harry Kane’s search for his first trophy is on the line with this tie since this is the only trophy Bayern can lift this season. He will be leading the line tonight for the Bavarians. Bayern will be looking to make the first leg count with the home advantage before the second leg which will take place at the Santiago Bernabeu.