Wednesday Champions League – Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid Preview
April 25th 2018 19:45 – Allianz Arena
Recent Form (All Competitons)
Bayern Munich: WWWDW
Real Madrid: WDLWD
A clash of two Champions League heavyweights will commence in Germany on Wednesday night as five-time winners Bayern Munich face off against 12 time victors Real Madrid with a place in the 2018 final at stake.
Bayern know they need to get a result at home if they’re to have any chance of reaching the final. Their league form has undoubtedly been superior to their rivals this season as they have secured a sixth-straight Bundesliga title, while Real Madrid currently sit third in La Liga.
A tricky start to the season saw Jupp Heynckes come out of retirement to replace Carlo Ancelotti as manager last autumn. The Italian was sacked after a 3-0 defeat in week two of the Champions League to French Champions Paris St. Germain, and the Bavarians have not looked back since.
Bayern’s chances will rely on the form of Robert Lewandowski, who has already scored 38 goals from his 42 games so far this term. The Polish International will have fond memories of playing Los Blancos. He scored in his last game against them and put four past them at the semi-final stage back in 2012/13. But Real have won five-straight matches against the German giants starting with the second leg of the 2011-12 semi-final and beat them on the way to lifting the trophy in 2014 and 2017.
Real Madrid arrive in Munich after a controversial win against Italian Champions Juventus, in which an injury-time penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo put Los Blancos through after almost blowing a three goal advantage.
Real have saved their best performances and results for the Champions League. Inconsistent league form has seen Real coach Zinedine Zidane come under some pressure but Europe has been his saviour.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been imperious as always in this competition, scoring almost double the number of goals of anyone else. The Portuguese superstar has netted in 14 of his last 15 Champions League appearances and still has 24 league goals too despite the teams’ inconsistencies domestically.
Bayern are the last side to have won the European Cup three years in a row, a feat achieved between 1974 and 1976. Real are on course to match that, having won the past two tournaments, and it would be fitting if they conquered the last side to achieve the feat on their way to making it three on the trot.
Prediction:
Bayern are unbeaten at home in the league, dropping points on just two occasions. In the Champions League, they have won four and drawn one while out-scoring the opposition 14-1. Real have only lost one game away in the Champions League this season and scored in every game-
It will be tight but a home win with over 2.5 goals looks like the best bet at 7/5 with Betfair.