Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern Munich will face the stiff challenge of turning around a 2-1 deficit when travel to the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday evening to take on Real Madrid in the second-leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

 

Last week’s outing at the Allianz Arena saw Los Blancos inflict a 2-1 defeat on the Bavarians, who had succumbed to an impressive comeback courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo brace to give Zinedine Zidane’s men two vital away goals.

 

If not for Vidal’s missed spot-kick (after he had opened the scoring) before the half-time interval, Bayern may well have doubled their lead, but German number one Manuel Neuer did make some commendable saves in the second half to keep Madrid at bay.

 

Much like that game, Bayern’s previous league game proved to be disappointment as Tayfun Korkut’s Bayer Leverkusen managed to hold the Bavarians to a frustrating 0-0 draw at the BayArena, cutting short their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table to eight points.Their form in the last five outings in all competitions hasn’t been as good as they would expect it to be; They have lost two, drawn one and won two games, with the losses against Zidane’s men and Julian Nageslmann’s Hoffenheim putting a spanner in the works.

 

Ancelotti’s men have scored the third most number of goals in the Champions League this season- 24, equalling Real’s tally. Robert Lewandowski, who missed the first leg due to injury, has scored as many as seven times out of that tally.

 

When it comes to conceding goals, Bayern have let in ten, out of which three came in their shock 3-2 loss at Rostov in the group stages of the competition.

 

Real Madrid has a much better recent form as they have won four out of their last five games in all competitions. Their only blip came in the 1-1 stalemate against city rivals Atletico Madrid, who managed to get a late leveller through Antoine Griezmann. 

 

Out of the 24 goals that they have scored, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored four times, including the brace that he grabbed at the Allianz last week. And the former Manchester United star will be someone the Bavarians will have to keep an eye on once again this evening.

 

The bad news for Zidane’s men is that Gareth Bale will not feature on Tuesday and has also been deemed as a doubt for the upcoming, decisive El Clasico this weekend. The former Tottenham superstar has failed to recover properly from a calf injury and will be a big miss for Los Blancos, heading into this vital week of fixtures.

 

Apart from Bale, defender Raphael Varane is likely to sit out in the game, after having missed the first leg too. Along with the Frenchman, Pepe will continue his recovery from a rib fracture and he could well be excluded from taking part in El Clasico too. Nacho Fernandez, who did start in the first-leg is the favourite to start again.

 

Bayern’s team news will bring out a contrasting reaction from both sides, when compared to the news of Bale missing the game. Roberto Lewandowski will be back fit, after having successfully recovered from a shoulder injury that had kept him out of the first leg. Carlo Ancelotti has also confirmed that Mats Hummels could also be back and could start alongside Jerome Boateng.

 

 

Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Nacho, Marcelo, Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Isco, Benzema, Ronaldo

 

Bayern Munich: Neuer; Lahm, Boateng, Hummels, Alaba, Xabi Alonso, Thiago, Robben, Vidal, Ribery; Lewandowski

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