Bayern veteran Manuel Neuer primed for one final battle with rivals Real Madrid

MUNICH – Bayern Munich veteran Manuel Neuer is saddling up for the Champions League quarter-final, second leg at home against Real Madrid on April 15, in what could be his final season before riding off into the sunset.

Although not the risk-hungry, “sweeper keeper” of his prime, the two-time Champions League winner was outstanding in Bayern’s 2-1 first-leg victory in Madrid.

Named Man of the Match, he made nine saves and succeeded in keeping Real’s danger men Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr at bay, for the most part.

Neuer, who turned 40 in March, has a contract with Munich until the end of the season.

Bayern seem willing to offer their captain another year, but he has repeatedly said he is still weighing up his future, especially since he has struggled with muscle injuries in the past two seasons.

Having already ruled himself out of World Cup contention this summer, ending the season with a third Champions League crown alongside a record-equalling 13th Bundesliga title would be a perfect sign-off.

For the record, two of Bayern’s six Champions League titles have come with Neuer between the sticks. Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen last week said: “We had something Real didn’t – our world-class goalkeeper, our X-factor.”

Centre-back Jonathan Tah asked reporters, “Are you surprised?” and added: “He simply exudes something special, especially with the saves he keeps making. You shouldn’t take it for granted, but for him it’s an everyday occurrence.”

Neuer’s spectacular saves make highlight reels, but his leadership has also been crucial as Bayern have rebuilt from their third-place Bundesliga finish in the 2023-24 season, to once again contend for the Champions League.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, in just his second season managing a club with Champions League ambitions, said so after the first leg.

“Manu only has to say one sentence and he brings order to the team. That’s why his role to me as a leader is just as important as what he does on the pitch,” the Belgian said, adding that Neuer “made things much easier for me at the beginning than I thought”.

Heading into the return leg, Neuer is the only current Bayern player to have experienced victory over two legs against Real. Since getting past the Spanish giants in the 2012 semi-finals, Bayern had not even won a match against Los Blancos in their eight meetings – up until last week.

And the Gelsenkirchen native will have even more motivation to get across the line against Real this time around. Two years ago, with Bayern ahead in the dying stages of their semi-final return leg, Neuer spilt a Vinicius shot, which Joselu tapped in to level things up.

Minutes later, Joselu scored again and Bayern were eliminated, with Real going on to win the title at Wembley.

Despite their first-leg lead, Bayern know their opponents well – with 29 games between the sides, no European fixture has been played more – and remain wary of the Champions League specialists.

Real suffered another La Liga setback on April 10 and are nine points behind Barcelona, but Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich recognised that the 15-time winners can turn it on when they have the Champions League anthem ringing in their ears.

“It doesn’t matter at all what form Kylian Mbappe and his teammates are in. When it’s the Champions League, they perform,” he said.

Leon Goretzka also warned: “We know exactly who we are playing against. It’s a brutally difficult task. We know how quickly they can create scoring opportunities. We know what to expect.” AFP