Battle of the Managers
Carlo Ancelottti vs Thomas Tuchel
UEFA Champions league Second Leg .
Real Madrid vs Bayern
Venue – Bernabau .
May 8th , 2024 .
Time – 8 pm .

Two European giants in the round leather game resumes hostilities in the second leg reverse fixture tonight after a 2-2 draw last week in Bavaria , Munich , Germany .
This two formidable foes are ñot new to each other in the round leather game in this football fiesta and have met 28 times to settle scores .

Hosts , Real Madrid are also not new in stopping the Bavarians in progressing further in this competion , while Dortmund who humbled a star studded PSG both at home and away lie in wait for who survives at the end of the 90 minutes hostiilities.
What comes to mind in this years semi finals second leg , is the way the Germans have pummeled their way to the finals and also are likely to pull another one this evening against , giants Real Madrid , irrespective of their football prowess and history .
Are we going to have an all German finals at the end of today s second leg ?? or is Real Madrid going to maintain a slight status quo ante agaainst the Germans , whose first finals qualifiers , Dortmund seems to have the best defence in this years competition , after holding many teams at bay in about five matches on clean sheet .

Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel are no strangers to facing one another, having previously met 10 times across five competitions in Germany, England and Europe.
Tuchel holds the head-to-head advantage with four wins compared to Ancelotti’s three, alongside three draws, including last week’s 2-2 result in the first leg.
This is the second time their clubs have been drawn against one another in the Champions League knockout stages. The first saw Ancelotti’s Real Madrid beat Tuchel’s

Carlo Ancelotti has managed most of the elite clubs in European football during his decorated career, and Bayern Munich is no exception. He spent a little more than a season in charge of the Bavarian giants.
The Italian began his stint in the summer of 2016, succeeding Pep Guardiola in the role.
In his first season there, the club won the Bundesliga title but were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.
His time with the club was short-lived, however, as he was sacked just two months into the following season in September 2017 amid reports that he had lost the dressing

Real Madrid who are no strangers to extinguishing Bavarian hopes of Champions League stardom, La Blancos weathered an early storm at the Allianz Arena last week and delivered a Vinicius Junior-sized sucker punch in the first half, but the Brazilian then had to be Los Blancos’ late saviour in the second.

Leroy Sane’s thunderous near-post finish and a calm penalty from Harry Kane turned the first leg on its head, but after Kim Min-jae – whose showing was nothing short of disastrous – felled Rodrygo inside the box, Vinicius’s second of the evening ensured that the semi-final would be left teetering on a knife edge.
Four days on from their pilgrimage to Bavaria, a record-equalling La Liga title was secured by Carlo Ancelotti’s second-string troops, who breezed past Cadiz 3-0 before witnessing Girona crush closest challengers Barcelona, thereby ensuring that their name would be etched onto the coveted trophy for the 36th time.

Only Juventus have claimed as many titles in the history of Europe’s big five leagues, and Real’s sole focus will now be on adding Champions League number 15 to their brimming cabinet ahead of their return to continental nights at the Bernabeu, where they have scored in 28 successive Champions League contests since a shock 3-0 loss to CSKA Moscow in December 2018.

Real Madrid are unbeaten in their past eight games against Bayern Munich, winning six of those meetings.
That is the German’s side longest winless run against an opponent in European competition.
Bayern are also winless in their last seven trips to the Bernabeu, losing six times – a win today would be their first at the venue since 2001.

All in all, the reigning Spanish champions have navigated each of their last 20 games without defeat since January’s Copa del Rey exit at the hands of local foes Atletico Madrid, and by the time Wednesday’s game rolls around, it would have been exactly 13 months to the day that Real last lost at home in any setting.
Only one of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich could end the season with top-flight and Champions League winners’ medals around their necks, as the visitors to the Spanish capital saw their crown ripped out of their grasp by Bayer Leverkusen and are yet to even secure a top-three finish in the top flight.

Thomas Tuchel’s men at least appeared to be ending the Bundesliga campaign with a flourish, claiming three straight victories before Saturday’s trip to Stuttgart, but their hosts blew the race for second place wide open with a 3-1 triumph, albeit against a weakened FC Hollywood contingent.
Kane’s 36th strike of the Bundesliga campaign from the penalty spot was minimal consolation for Bayern, whose springtime injury crisis worsened with the loss of defensive duo Eric Dier and Raphael Guerreiro at MHPArena, an extremely worrying sight amid their rearguard woes on the road.

Indeed, Bayern have not kept a single clean sheet away from home in 2024 – last shutting out Manchester United in December – and they have shipped multiple goals in eight of their last 10 on rival territory, winning on just three occasions in that abysmal spell.
The defensive misery does not end there for Bayern, who have also gone 16 games without a clean sheet against Real Madrid and have never got one over Ancelotti in nine previous attempts versus the distinguished Blancos boss; no team has ever experienced a worse winless run against a particular manager in the Champions League

Injury worries may be over for the hosts Real Madrid with the recovery of Thibalt Courtois in goal , Cavanal from suspension in the first leg campaign , but Courtois s return do not guarantee him a place in today’s match as Carlos Ancelottti said Andriy Lunnin would continue in goal

Courtois’s comeback and Carvajal’s return from a European suspension means that erstwhile Bayern defender David Alaba is the only absentee for Ancelotti to contend with for the second leg, and changes will be made in abundance after the Real coach went with a second-string XI for the Cadiz success.
Vinicius, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde will be among the troops to return, but Ancelotti should opt against retaining Eder Militao, still not quite firing on all cylinders after his ACL injury.

In stark contrast, the Bayern infirmary remains well-occupied, as Guerreiro is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to the ankle injury he picked up against Stuttgart, while a bloodied Dier – who had also been nursing a slight thigh injury – came off at half time in the same match.

Dier’s change was precautionary in nature, though, so the ex-Tottenham Hotspur man is expected to reprise his role on Wednesday, while Matthijs de Ligt is also on the brink of returning from a knee problem and could reinforce Tuchel’s ranks further.
However, Kingsley Coman’s groin injury will render him unavailable again, while Sacha Boey (hip), Bouna Sarr (ACL) and Tarek Buchmann (hamstring) will be absent today .

Though Real Madrid seems to be the favourite to win today’s second leg encounter , but we should also not forget what PSG saw in the reverse fixture against a tactically superior , Dortmund , PSG could not score a goal for 90 minute s with Mbappe and co , throwing paper darts in a German shield , even from both legs for 180 minutes .
As we give it to Real , we also should not forget the impssoble happening at the Bernabau tonight , the tides might turn in favour of the Bavarians who should not be over looked , as many book makers and football followers over looked Dortmund and they produced a five star performance over a star studded PSG , leaving them in their wake .
Bayern are likely to put out a near full-strength team as their injury situation eases, but they have been carved open at will on the road in 2024, and such defensive frailties could prove fatal as Real edge a mesmerising matchup to advance to Wembley

Predictions – 1-0 or 1-1, / 3-2

Happy Viewing , Happy Humps day that’s Wednesday and Happy Mid Week .

Uche Freetips , (2024 C
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