Sparks may fly as two giants meet
Munich ready to stop Madrid and Ronaldo
MUNICH: They are two of the biggest clubs in the world, both with enough trophies to fill a warehouse.
They are Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Today, the giants of European football will meet yet again in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
It will be the seventh time they have played each other at this stage in the tournament’s history, with Bayern winning four of those previous six.
The most recent was 2014, when Madrid won home and away against a team coached by Pep Guardiola, now Manchester City manager.
They have competed in the knockout stages of the Champions League 11 times, including three times in the last six seasons.
Spanish representation in the semifinals has been cut to one team for the first time since 2010.
The fact that team is Real Madrid isn’t a surprise.
Seeking a record-extending 13th European title, Madrid are in the semi-finals for the eighth straight year.
The Germans are now coached by Jupp Heynckes, who led Bayern to the title in 2013 before his first retirement.
Heynckes came back in October to rescue Bayern after their faltering start to the season led to Carlo Ancelotti’s departure.
Heynckes led Bayern to a Champions League-Bundesliga-German Cup treble in 2013 and is attempting to do so again, having already won the league and reached the final of the domestic cup.
Bayern have been eliminated by Spanish opposition every year since Heynckes first retired, and Madrid are the favourites heading into the two legs.
The defending champions travel to Germany after a full week of rest and preparation since their last match, a 1-1 draw at home to Athletic Bilbao.
They received the extra days off because their Spanish league match against Sevilla, originally scheduled for last weekend, was moved to next month after Sevilla reached the Copa del Rey final played on Saturday.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane should be able to count on all his firstchoice players and must decide whether to start playmaker Francisco “Isco” Alarcon or winger Gareth Bale up front with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema today.
Ronaldo will be seeking to continue his incredible scoring run after having scored in all 10 matches in the competition this campaign for a total of 15 goals.
He scored a last-gasp penalty against Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu in the previous round that sent his team to the last four.
Ronaldo has dragged Real into the semi-finals with, even by his standards, an astonishing goal glut that includes 22 in 12 games, and at least one in each of his last 11 matches in Europe. “It’s impossible to completely stifle Ronaldo, we can only stop him as a team,” Bayern defender Jerome Boateng said.
“An attacker can not be more complete than him — left foot, right foot, head, he controls everything and in front of the goal, he’s a machine”.
Ronaldo in a Real team centred on playing to his strengths is nothing new, but as the Portuguese has grown narrower in his scope, perhaps his teammates have had to sharpen their focus in providing service to him. Zidane has often deployed 4-4-2 in the biggest games this season, with Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio preferred on the flanks for their defensive discipline and willingness to send crosses into the box.
FIXTURE (kick-off 1.45am Thai time) Semi-final first leg Bayern Munich v Real Madrid