Real Madrid hoping Champions League magic halts Bayern Munich juggernaut

MADRID – Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa admitted that Bayern Munich are “the most in-form team in Europe”, as Vincent Kompany’s men prepare to visit the Spanish capital on April 7 for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

The German side are high on confidence and looking like Europe’s most complete side, and will be bolstered by the likely return of star striker Harry Kane.

“Bayern are having an exceptional season, both from results and style of football,” Arbeloa said in his pre-match press conference on April 6. “We’re facing the most in-form team in Europe at the moment. We know the challenge they’ll pose on the pitch.”

Despite Real’s prestige and troupe of attacking stars – Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, and Jude Bellingham included, as well as Federico Valverde who scored a hat-trick against Manchester City – Bayern are arguably favourites to lift the trophy.

Arbeloa has challenged his side to show their collective might against the Bundesliga giants.

“We have the best players but we must also be the best team in the world,” the Spaniard added. “We have to put our talent at the service of the team.”

Real have endured a tough season, plagued by inconsistency, but have made a habit of pulling off the unexpected in Europe.

Just as it seemed their well of Champions League magic was running dry, the 15-time European champions produced their best performance of the season to crush Pep Guardiola’s City in the last 16.

“It would be presumptuous to assume that we’ll definitely advance,” said honorary Bayern president Uli Hoeness. “But we haven’t had such great chances in terms of the playing quality as we have this year in a long time.”

Meanwhile Kane, who has scored 48 goals in 40 appearances across all competitions this season, took part in training with his teammates on April 6 after missing Bayern’s battling 3-2 Bundesliga win at Freiburg on April 4 with an ankle issue.

“He’d play in a wheelchair,” said Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich, while Kompany added that he had “a feeling” that the England striker would be ready.

With Michael Olise and Luis Diaz joining Kane in attack, they play an aggressive, high-pressing style which helped them demolish Atalanta 10-2 on aggregate in the Champions League last 16.

Bayern came from two goals down to beat Freiburg and match-winner Lennart Karl said that fighting spirit was crucial heading into the Real clash.

“It gives us a lot of confidence. It was very important – we actually feel unbeatable at the moment,” he said, with Bayern’s last defeat coming in January.

In that same period, Real have lost four times with Arbeloa struggling to find the right balance when all his stars are fit, just like Xabi Alonso and Carlo Ancelotti before him.

They fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat by Mallorca in La Liga on April 4, leaving them seven points behind rivals Barcelona in the title race.

The Real coach brushed off the loss and said it would have no bearing on his team’s performance against Bayern, in the club’s favoured competition.

“I know what my players are capable of, I know they understand the importance of Tuesday’s game,” he said. “The demand on the team will be maximum and I know the support that Madrid fans will offer us – with them, everything is easier.”

Bayern are well aware of the impact of Real’s supporters on big European nights at the Bernabeu which, along with the weight of history and sublime individual quality, helps Los Blancos pull off remarkable results even when the odds are against them.

“It’s the stadium and the fans who, together with the team, transform into a hurricane that sweeps over the opponent,” said Bayern power broker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

“You need nerves of steel, you have to stay calm, and you have to be mentally prepared... it’s not just an ordinary game. It will be the toughest test.”

Two Bayern players who understand that more than most are goalkeepers Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich, who have cracked in the Bernabeu pressure cooker.

In the 2018 Champions League semi-finals, Ulreich went to pick up a back pass before suddenly realising his mistake and letting it run past him, with Karim Benzema tapping into the empty net.

Real went on to win that tie, as they have in all of their last four knockout-round clashes against Bayern. In each of those seasons, they went on to be crowned European champions.

In the 2024 semi-finals, on-loan Joselu struck twice in the dying embers of the second leg, the first after a Neuer handling error, to send Bayern crashing out.

No two teams have faced each other more in the competition, with the match on April 7 being the 29th meeting between the two sides. Real have won 13 of the encounters, drawn four, and lost 11. They have gone nine matches unbeaten against Bayern (seven wins, two draws).

The German giants last knocked out Los Blancos in 2012, but believe they finally have the quality this time to rewrite the narrative of the last decade. AFP