REAL MADRID and Bayern Munich reconvene for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.
This heavyweight battle is delicately poised going into this week’s return leg following an action-packed 2-2 draw in Germany last week, on a night where one of Kevin Mac’s tips landed.
Since then, Real Madrid have been crowned La Liga champions for a 36th time, after beating Cadiz 3-0 on Saturday before arch-rivals Barcelona crashed to a 4-2 defeat at Girona.
As such, Carlo Ancelotti’s side can now turn all of their attention to overcoming Bayern Munich this midweek, with a view to taking one step closer to conquering the continent for a record-extending 15th time.
Meanwhile, a much-changed Bayern Munich side stumbled to their seventh league defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 3-1 away to third-placed Stuttgart.
Having already surrendered their Bundesliga crown and with a top four place already sewn up, Thomas Tuchel is understandably putting all of Bayern’s eggs into the Champions League basket.
How the bookies view Real vs Bayern: Casa Blanca on route to Wembley
Following last week’s draw in Bavaria, Real Madrid are now heavy 1/2 (BetVictor) favourites to seal their place in next month’s Wembley showpiece.
Los Blancos are also odds-on 17/20 (Bet 365) shots to win the second leg inside 90 minutes while Bayern are big outsiders at 14/5 (Bet 365). A repeat of last week’s stalemate can be backed at a best price of 3/1 (Bet 365).
Head to head: Real reign supreme
Real Madrid extended their unbeaten run against Bayern Munich to four matches following last week’s 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena.
However, it’s worth noting that Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel has an impressive record against the 14-time winners of Europe's elite club competition, having lost just one of his previous nine encounters with the Spanish giants.
Players to watch: Vinicius to fire Real to victory
After bagging a brace against Bayern Munich last week, Vinicius Junior has been priced up at 13/8 (Bet 365) to strike in this week’s second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Bayern Munich will look to Harry Kane again for inspiration after he netted his eighth Champions League goal of the season last midweek. The England skipper has also been chalked up at 13/8 (Bet 365) to make the net bulge in Madrid.
Predicted lineups
Aurelien Tchouameni is touch and go for this week’s second leg due to a foot injury but Dani Carvajal should come back into the Real Madrid side after missing out in Munich due to a suspension.
Matthijs de Ligt remains a doubt for Bayern Munich but fellow defender Dayot Upamecano looks set to return to the fold for this crunch clash.
Real Madrid: Lunin, Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho Mendy; Bellingham, Kroos, Camavinga; Valverde, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo.
Bayern Munich: Neuer; Kimmich, Min-Jae, Upamecano Davies; Goretzka, Laimer, Muller; Sane, Musiala, Kane.
Official line-ups will be released around 8M today.
Anything else catch the eye? Sparks could fly in Spain
Given the magnitude of this match for both sides, the 10/11 on offer with Bet 365 for both teams to receive 2+ cards looks worth backing on Wednesday night.
This bet would have paid out during last week’s first leg in Germany and I see no reason to oppose the same play when the pressure ramps up for the pair in the second leg.
What’s more, referee Szymon Marciniak is averaging 5.44 yellow cards per-game across all competitions this season, a tally that increases to 6.0 when focusing solely on this season's Champions League.
As for a player-based selection, the aforementioned Dani Carvajal catches the eye to commit two or more fouls at 9/5 on Paddypower .
This selection would have proven profitable in both of the Spanish right-back’s outings against Man City in the previous round and he will likely be up against Jamal Musiala here, who was fouled four times in the first leg of last week's semi-final.
This English Premier League match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will be played on May 8, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
Yesterday was a total disappointment as PSG was a complete flop.
Cheers captain obvious! 🫡 😉