The first meeting of the semi-finals of the Champions League, which takes place in two-legged matches, will pit Bayern Munich and Real Madrid against each other on Tuesday at the Allianz Arena. These two giants of European football share the objective of joining Wembley for the final on June 1st. The other semi-final will see PSG and Borussia Dortmund face off on Wednesday.
Published on: 04/30/2024 – 10:28 Modified on: 04/30/2024 – 10:30
3 mn
After four years of absence, Bayern Munich returned to the last four of the Champions League on Tuesday April 30 with a “20-star” semi-final against Real Madrid, and maintained its dream of seeing Wembley again in the final, as during of the 2013 triumph.
Entering the pitch of the Allianz Arena, two of the finest records in European football will face off, with stars in their eyes and on their jerseys: 14 for Real Madrid, record holder, and 6 for Bayern, the third most successful club in C1.
Between them, Bayern and/or Real have played in 28 of the 69 finals of the most prestigious European Cup (11 for the Germans and 17 for the Spaniards). And the two clubs have faced each other 26 times, almost always in the knockout phase, but strangely never in the final on neutral ground.
Bayern wants to save its season
Europe remains the only possibility of winning a trophy this season for Bayern, dispossessed of the national title for the first time since 2013 by Bayer Leverkusen. Opposite, Real already has a hand and a half on La Liga, as it approaches the end of the season with a comfortable lead over the competition.
“Their season was not perfect in the Bundesliga, but against Arsenal they were very good, two spectacular matches. Bayern’s history with this competition is the same as ours,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. , Monday evening at a press conference.
To approach these “ten incredibly important days”, according to Bavarian coach Thomas Tuchel, Bayern offered themselves a controversy in the pure style of FC Hollywood, a nickname earned in the past due to the whims of some of its stars.
Friday, four days before this crucial match, honorary president Uli Hoeness, still very influential, sharply criticized Tuchel, accusing him of not wanting to develop young players. An attack poorly received by the person concerned, “hurt in his honor as coach”, who regretted the worst timing.
Hoeness’ statements came to disrupt a Munich environment already confused by the search for a successor to Tuchel, forced by his management to give up his apron in the summer of 2024, twelve months earlier than expected, due to a series of negative results in February. The name of Ralf Rangnick, current German coach of Austria, has come up repeatedly in recent days in the German press.
“We noticed but it doesn’t affect us as players. We don’t let ourselves be disturbed, the focus is on the two matches against Real,” assured full-back Joshua Kimmich.
Real in full confidence
Real, for its part, is having an almost perfect season on the national scene, with only one defeat in La Liga against Atlético Madrid, who also eliminated them in the quarter-finals of the Spanish Cup.
In the Champions League, the progress was more sluggish. Madrid eliminated RB Leipzig in the round of 16 with a victory in Germany and a draw in Spain, before going out on penalties to defending champion Manchester City in the quarter-finals after a penalty shootout to goal.
Arriving in Bavaria to unlock his record, the Englishman Harry Kane (already 42 goals this season, including 7 in C1) dreams of doing so in his Wembley garden on June 1, but will first have to measure up to Jude Bellingham, his teammate in the England team, who is pursuing the same goal for his first season in Madrid.
With AFP
