The Battle of Bavaria
UEFA Champions League first leg Semi Finals
Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid
Venue – Alliance Arena, Munich
April 30th , 2024

The Alliance Arena in Munich ,Bavaria , is the familiar turf of the former German Champions in the Bundesliga , Bayern Munich, who for the first time in 11 years lost their title to Batlern Leverkusen in this seson”s Bundesliga title .
If we go down memory lane , I would be recalled that it’s same stadium that hosted the champions league finals Bayern and Chelsea in 2012 and the Blues won via penalties , after full and extra time could not produce a winner , it was a sad and dark night that memorable day in Munich for Bayern , while the Blues smiled hoke. to London with the trophy for the first time in their history .

Thomas Tuchel’s troops navigated their way past Arsenal in the last eight, while the 14-time winners of Europe’s premier tournament eliminated holders Manchester City in a nerve-jangling penalty shootout
Ordinarily , football followers would have loved this to be the finals of this years UEFA Champions league , just like the Man City vs Real Madrid in the quarter Finals , but no thanks to the draws .

Historically , the two formidable foes have played each other 26 times ,with the Bavarians having an upper hand with 12 wins against Real Madrid 11 while three ended in draws .
Real would have had enough rest prior to today’s semi semi finals clash , when their game against Real Sociedad was moved to Friday which Madird won by 1-0 .
With Madrid set to win Spain’s domestic title, coach Carlo Ancelotti kept Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior, Eduardo Camavinga, Toni Kroos, Federico Valverde, Antonio Rudiger and goalkeeper Andriy Lunin on the bench at the start of the league game in San Sebastian. Forward Rodrygo did not travel with the team because of the flu..

The Bavarians’ defensive play has been stellar of late during their home unbeaten streak in the Champions League, as the club has posted three straight clean sheets in Munich. The latest was a 1-0 triumph over Arsenal on Apr. 17 in which midfielder Joshua Kimmich converted in the 63rd minute to help Bayern reach the semifinals for the first time since their 2019-20 championship season. The Bavarians are led offensively by striker Harry Kane, who is second in the UCL with seven goals and tied for eighth with three assists.
Since mid-December, the 30-year-old Kane has recorded 20 goals in 22 contests across all competitions, never going more than two consecutive matches without a goal during that span. He was kept off the scoresheet in the 1-0 win against Arsenal but converted in the first leg of that quarterfinal tie and registered his second brace of the UCL season in his previous outing versus Lazio. Kane also had a brace in his last outing, a 2-1 triumph in domestic league play over Eintracht Frankfurt .

Injury worries could have been a major upset for Bayern , but the good news is that Real Madrid transfer target Alphonso Davies will be available for selection by Thomas Tuchel again, after serving his suspension in the second leg against Arsenal.
Konrad Laimer and Matthijs de Ligt were ejected early into the weekend match against Frankfurt. This was likely precautionary and Thomas Tuchel has not yet ruled them out for the match against Real Madrid.
Tuchel , ia also doubtful of the availability of Mathijs de Ligt that has pain in his knee ligament and Konny Laimer sprained his ankle. They were both in so much pain they couldn’t continue., but tests wil prove their for the match ,

Star player Jamal Musiala also missed the match against Frankfurt, with a tendon irritation that is really hindering him. that made him to stop training temporarily.
It is a race against time for Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry and Dayot Upamecano to be fit for this match.
Sacha Boey, Gabriel Marusic, Tarek Buchmann and Bouna Sarr have all been long-term absentees for Bayern Munich so they will not feature in this match. Added to this , , Kingsley Coman is ruled out of the Real Madrid first leg, hopefully back by the middle of May..

Los Blancos enter Tuesday with an 18-game unbeaten streak across all competitions during which they have recorded 12 wins and six draws. Real Madrid also have gone 10 straight Champions League matches without a loss, a run that is one game shy of matching the club record set in 2016-17. Facing Bayern in the knockout phase of the competition has been a good thing for Los Blancos of late, as they have gone on to win the title after defeating the Bavarians in their previous three meetings.
Rodrygo is tied for fifth in the UCL with five goals, the same amount he recorded in the competition in each of the last two campaigns. The 23-year-old Brazilian winger enjoyed a three-game scoring streak during the group stage before converting in each leg of the quarterfinal tie against Manchester City. English midfielder Jude Bellingham has netted four goals and is tied with teammate Vinicius Junior and four other players for second in the competition with four assists.

.Real Madrid were counting their lucky stars to come away with all three points from their battle with Sociedad, but Ancelotti saw fit to rest many of his first-team regulars, and there is no doubt which semi-finalist will be in better shape on Tuesday.
While the Kane-inspired hosts are always a threat in the final third, Bayern’s unenviable injury situation should catch up to them in the first leg against a Real side who almost always find a way in the Champions League, so we expect Los Blancos to take a slender lead back to the Spanish capital.

Predictions – 2-2 .

Happy Viewing , Happy New week of the UEFA , s champions league .(2024 C).
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