The European champions are bidding to secure their passage at the Bernabéu following on from their 2-1 away success in Munich.
Real Madrid, the European Cup and the Bernabéu. There’s no more successful combination in the history of the game and the Champions League holders will be going all out to prove just that tonight against Bayern Munich (8:45pm CEST). A place in the Kyiv final is now just one step away. Madrid edged closer to a spot in the continental showpiece a week ago at the Allianz Arena, where they secured a 2-1 away triumph which puts them in the driving seat tonight as they bid to seal their place in a third successive Champions League final.
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Speaking in his pre-match press conference, captain Sergio Ramos declared that, “The big, historic nights have been created by a combination of the team and the Bernabéu. It’s a cup final for us and the fact that it’s in front of our fans is our reward”. It’s an important night and the Real Madrid faithful are set to get right behind their team from the moment the bus rolls up outside the stadium.
Statistics favour the Whites
Not only does the Bernabéu factor strike fear into the opposition, with Real Madrid having only tasted defeat once in their last 18 European fixtures on home soil (W15, D3), the team’s goalscoring stats are also enough to make their opponents tremble. Indeed, the European champions will be looking to extend their excellent 26-game scoring run in the Champions League.
Zinedine Zidane, who has named a 19-man squad for the encounter, highlighted the following as being the key: “We must go out to win it, get an early goal and not take any chances”. The main piece of team news in the Madrid camp concerns the return of Nacho. As far as goals are concerned, there’s one name that stands out above the rest and it’s that of Cristiano Ronaldo. The greatest player on the planet has been on target in each of his last nine outings at the Bernabéu, plundering 18 goals in the process (an average of two goals a game). Tonight’s match will be Real Madrid’s 250th Champions League fixture, with the Whites the first club to reach this landmark figure.
Twelve wins in last 13 on the road
Madrid will have a big job on their hands and they’ll have to dig in, just as Zidane has warned on several occasions. The Whites are up against the Bundesliga champions, the holders of the German Super Cup and the finalists of the German Cup. What’s more, Bayern have emerged victorious in 12 of their last 13 away encounters, scoring 15 goals in the last four of these games.
Jupp Heynckes will have to contend with injuries to Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Arturo Vidal, Kingsley Coman and Arjen Robben, whilst David Alaba is part of the Bayern travelling party after having been ruled out of the first leg through injury. Robert Lewandowski is the visitors’ main attacking threat, with the Pole having netted 18 times in as many appearances this calendar year.
