After the Champions League quarter-final draw was announced on Friday, most football fans have been looking forwards to the clash of the European giants – Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Their European dominance and close-competition is well established – the two teams have met 10 times in two-legged European ties with five wins each. Real have reached the last six Champions League semi-finals while Bayern has reached the last five. Now, Bayern will host the first leg against Real as the two sides renew one of the oldest and most bitter rivalries in Champions League football.
But it’s not just the fans who are relishing the impending quarter-final, the teams are just as excited. For Bayern Munich’s Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso, it will be a homecoming of sorts against their former club Real Madrid.
“The match against Real Madrid will be special for me,” Ancelotti said. “We have a lot of confidence and want to win the Champions League this season. I think we have the ability to beat Real Madrid. But they have a fantastic team with a fantastic coach.”
Ancelotti was the coach when current holders Real won their tenth Champions League title – “La Decima” – in 2014. The connection goes deeper, Real’s current coach Zinedine Zidane was Ancelotti’s assistant when Madrid won La Decima, beating Atletico Madrid 4-1 in the final. Zidane then went on to win the Champions League in his debut season as head coach last year.
This is what I live for, these kind of moments. When I was a player, these were the kind of games I loved to play in,” Zidane said after the draw.
The French player was also looking forward to the master-pupil reunion in April. “It will be master against pupil for sure,” Zidane said on Friday. I was his assistant, I learned a lot from him, he is a great person and we all know what we did here. The tie is 50-50 as always, especially with these two teams,” he said.
Alonso wasn’t part of the team as he was suspended for the final in Lisbon final, and the Spanish mid-fielder, who also won the 2005 Champions League title with Liverpool, will retire in June and wants to hang up his boots by winning the European title with his third club in the final in Cardiff on June 3.
“Wow! It will be a great quarter-final between two historic clubs,” said Alonso. “For me, of course this is a special game. I’m glad to be able to play in Madrid again, but I also know the Bernabeu is always a difficult place to go, but first we have a home game,’ he said.
However, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer believes that Zidane’s squad won’t be too happy with the draw.
“We have the coach who knows the Real team the best, they are an interesting and difficult opponent,” said Neuer. “I don’t think Real will be pleased to face Bayern, but to play against Real is always something special. It’s a 50/50 game and nuances will decide it.”
Bayern are on a Champions League record run of 17 consecutive home wins, however they have a different record against Real. The Spanish giants were the last team to win a European match in Munich when Pep Guardiola’s Bayern was thrashed 4-0 in the 2014 semi-finals, and it was Ancelotti who was in charge then.
With so much at stake, the quarter-final will be nothing short of enthralling. Real will travel to Allianz-Arena on April 12 before hosting the German champions for the second leg on April 18.
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