Good night and welcome to stay protection of the Champions League semi-final, second leg tie between Actual Madrid and Bayern Munich from the Bernabéu, which begins at 2-2, extra all-square than ever on this vacuous, submit away objectives period. The house aspect, winners on 14 events, two of them beneath Carlo Ancelotti in 2014 and 2022, tackle Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich, champions on six events, none of them beneath the present supervisor who did, nonetheless, take PSG to their solely last in 2020 and gained it with Chelsea the season after, neither of them in entrance of a full home due to the pandemic.
Victory for Bayern tonight would give Tuchel the chance of going through a packed Wembley, the scene of triumphs for him in two FA Cup semis however defeat in each finals and a League Cup last as FC Hollywood bid to maneuver above Liverpool and stage with AC Milan on seven European Cups. For Ancelotti, an unprecedented fifth European Cup/ Champions League as a supervisor, taking him two forward of Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola, ought to find yourself, as I advocated final week, with him holding not less than a private duplicate, a lot as golf equipment used to get to maintain the present trophy after a fifth win or third in succession.
The chances tonight are with Actual Madrid, who’ve misplaced solely one in every of 15 knockout ties on this competitors once they have drawn the primary leg away from house, and lead the head-to-head 12-11 with 5 attracts although Bayern have gained via in 4 of their seven semi-final conferences. Extra ominous nonetheless for the Bavarians, of Actual Madrid’s 31 house semi-final legs, they’ve gained 19, drawn 9 and misplaced solely three – to Ajax in 1973, Bayern Munich in 2001 (by advantage of Brazilian aim machine Giovane Elber) and Barcelona in 2011. That victory 23 years in the past ought to present Bayern hope as ought to their defeat in 2012 when, the scoreline after 120 minutes tied the match at 3-3 with each golf equipment recording 2-1 house wins, Jupp Henyckes’ aspect proceeded to win the shootout, Manuel Neuer saving penalties from Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka whereas Sergio Ramos blazed his over the bar.
