Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid: 3 Things to Watch in the First Leg of the Champions League Quarterfinal

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(Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Bongarts/Getty Images) /

Carlo Ancelotti vs. Zinedine Zidane

This match up has just about every piece you’d want to see. On one side, the leaders of Spain and the defending Champions League winners. On the other side, you have the leaders of Germany and an always impressive European super squad.

Oh yes and one more thing, the two managers used to work side by side on the Real Madrid bench just two short years ago.

Carlo Ancelotti, current Bayern Munich manager, was on the sideline as Real Madrid manager in 2014 with current Real manager Zinedine Zidane as Los Blancos won their tenth Champions League title.

Zidane took over the job Ancelotti resigned from after the 2014/2015 season, reaching a mutual agreement with the club to part ways.

Now the two former manager and assistant will coach two of the best teams head-to-head on Wednesday night.

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It will be fun to watch the two go at it, the amateur Zidane, who is in his first full season as Madrid manager, will face arguably one of the greatest managers in Europe the last two decades, Ancelotti, who has now coached over 1,000 games for several of Europe’s biggest and best clubs.

Ancelotti clearly has the advantage in X’s and O’s, but can the young padawan Zidane dethrone his former mentor? It should be very fun to watch the two go at it.

Zidane said of Ancelotti in his press conference upon arriving in Munich, “I know him very well and he knows me very well but that doesn’t mean anything,” he said.

“It’s not a disadvantage or an advantage. There’s a game tomorrow and I think that it’s two very good teams coming up against each other and that’s it. We’re not playing against Carlo.

"“I learnt many, many things [from Ancelotti]. But, as you know, I’m not going to tell you what I learnt with him. But it was many things.”"

It should be very fun to watch the two go at it.

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