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

The difficult month of April rolls on for Real Madrid as the team prepare to face long time Champions League rivals Bayern Munich in the first leg of the UCL quarterfinals from the Allianz Arena. Ben Sundock gives you three things to watch in this matchup of two of the best teams in Europe.

Missing Defenders, On Both Sides

It will no doubt be interesting to see how both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich get on with both sides missing key players on defense.

For Real, manager Zinedine Zidane will have a tough time finding enough players to fill out his starting four defenders and his bench defenders as well, floating the idea that a player or two from the Real Madrid Castilla team could be an option off the bench.

However, that did not happen, instead Zidane has gone back to Fabio Coentrao and has Dani Carvajal listed on the squad sheet, despite missing training before traveling to Munich.

Both Pepe, who fractured a couple of ribs in a collision with Toni Kroos on Saturday in the Madrid Derby, and Rapahel Varane, who reinjured a muscle in his leg against Deportivo Alavés a couple weekends ago, will miss the match and didn’t even make the trip to Germany.

While Carvajal is listed on the team sheet, it is still uncertain if he will start. Carvajal played the full 90 minutes on Saturday against Atletico Madrid, and he didn’t appear to be injured in the match, so, it is unknown what exactly held Dani out of training.

Real will definitely need the full back to hold down the Bayern attack.

Former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti will have a similar dilemma with his squad, as star center back Mats Hummels will miss the match Wednesday with an ankle injury picked up in training.

He isn’t the only Bayern player in doubt, as world class striker Robert Lewandowski missed the team’s training Monday ahead of the match because of a sore shoulder.

Lewandowski picked up the knock in Bayern’s 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, which forced him off early after scoring two goals in the match.

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.

The Insider Info

“It’s easy to predict what Bayern want to do,” a confident Toni Kroos said. “I think they’re going to attack us from the start and try to press us high up the pitch.”

Former Bayern favorite and German international, Kroos, isn’t afraid of the talented club he played for from 2007-2014 before joining Real Madrid, saying in a press conference prior to Wednesday’s clash.

However, Kroos doesn’t expect to be overwhelmed by the attacking Bavarians, “Not for 90 minutes like they did under Guardiola, they will step back a bit, but here at home they are going to pressure us a lot and have a lot of possession, of course.”

Kroos, considered by many to be the maestro in the Madrid midfield, will play a crucial role in the match, not only for his great talent for his knowledge on the opposing team. Kroos, having played for Bayern from the youth academy to the senior squad, knows many of Bayern’s best players and the clubs tactics.

If anything, Kroos having played for Bayern under now Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, and under current Bayern manager Ancelotti at Real Madrid for one season, he might have the best game plan as to how the knock off the formidable team on the road.

Kroos will more than likely make his seventh start in the Champions League this season, and he has been by far one of the best players for Los Blancos in this UCL campaign. Completing 91% of his passes in the competition, adding one assist, and an average match rating just below 7.20, Kroos’ contributions in a white jersey have been unfathomably important.

He will need to step up again in his former home stadium tomorrow night.

And hopefully, Real can repeat what they did to Bayern in the Allianz back in 2014 in the semifinals, winning 4-0.

Next: Between Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, Zidane’s Tactical Prowess and Weakness