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Real Madrid Draw Bayern Munich in the Champions League QuarterFinals: Quick Reaction

By Alex McVey

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - August 03, 2016 Real Madrid Midfielder Isco (22) barrels his way through FC Bayern Munich Defender Xabi Alonso (14) and Midfielder Arturo Vidal (23) during the International Champions Cup match between FC Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid, Soccer, 2016 on August 03, 2016 at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, USA . Real Madrid won the match with a score of 1 to 0. Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - August 03, 2016 Real Madrid Midfielder Isco (22) barrels his way through FC Bayern Munich Defender Xabi Alonso (14) and Midfielder Arturo Vidal (23) during the International Champions Cup match between FC Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid, Soccer, 2016 on August 03, 2016 at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, USA . Real Madrid won the match with a score of 1 to 0. Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images /
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Real Madrid will face off against Bayern Munich in their Champions League Quarterfinal match the club learned this afternoon. Alex McVey gives you his quick reaction to the draw.

If I were to tell most Real Madrid fans that the draw in the Champions League pitted Los Blancos against a team that they beat 5-0 on aggregate the last time they faced them, you would think they would be thrilled. Less so, however, when that team is none other than the Bavarian giants Bayern Munich.

This is historically a very even matchup. Madrid have won 9, drawn 2, and lost 11 of their matches against Munich.

Bayern got off to a bit of a slow start in the Bundesliga this season, but have taken off since the winter break, now finding themselves ten points clear at the top of the German league. Will the stiffer competition in the Bundesliga this year make Bayern more competitive in Europe, as some have argued? Or, is Bayern so far ahead that it’s ultimately just the same old story?

Real Madrid will have a big task ahead of them if they want to make it through to the next round.

Judging by their 10-2 aggregate thrashing of Arsenal, it seems Bayern are gearing up to be a major threat to the top teams in Europe. Real Madrid will have a big task ahead of them if they want to make it through to the next round.

The tie will stir up some emotions with the return of Xabi Alonso to the Santiago Bernabéu. Alonso departed Madrid after winning the Champions League in 2014, and has recently announced his retirement from football at the end of the season.  It would be nice to see Real Madrid honor him during the home leg of the fixture.

Perhaps the most interesting narrative arc going into this Champions League quarterfinals is the face-off between Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.

Of course, the last time Ancelotti won a Champions League, it was with Zidane sitting beside him as an assistant coach at Real Madrid. By defeating Atletico Madrid in 2014, Ancelotti became the first coach to win the Champions League three times. However, Zizou is no slouch himself, famously winning the Champions League in his first season at Real Madrid.

Has the student become the master? Or will the experienced Jedi Knight put the young padowan in his place?  I, for one, cannot wait to find out.

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