This is yet another historic duel between two behemoths of European football. Real Madrid hosts Bayern Munich in their home stadium at the Santiago Bernabeu this Wednesday (9 p.m.) in the Champions League semi-final second leg. A week after a first leg (2-2) which leaves the door open to all scenarios, the Merengue of Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and company once again challenge the Bayern of scorer Harry Kane. State of affairs before the shock.

Vinicius opened the scoring in favor of Real against the run of play (24th) at the Allianz Arena last Tuesday. The debates were then balanced before Bayern found the fault twice in four minutes, by Leroy Sané (53rd) then by Harry Kane from the penalty spot (57th). It was in the same exercise that Vinicius scored twice to equalize at the end of the match (83rd). At the end of a slightly disappointing meeting for a Champions League semi-final first leg from the point of view of intensity and spectacle, the Bavarians failed to take an option before traveling to Madrid.

Real Madrid. The Merengue won the C1 in 2022 with the same coach, Carlo Ancelotti, and many players still present. They also have the advantage of receiving on the return for 90 minutes, or even 120 in the event of extra time. “We respect Bayern a lot, they were better than us in the first leg,” Ancelotti warned. The latter hopes to ride the euphoria of the Spanish championship title acquired last weekend. “We have an important match tomorrow, we will have time to celebrate La Liga,” calmed defender Dani Carvajal.

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Yes. For the reasons just cited, and others. First, Bayern have come a long way. Stripped of the title of German champion after eleven coronations in a row, he went through an unprecedented crisis at the beginning of spring. In February, Thomas Tuchel announced his departure at the end of the season. He went through a mouse hole in the round of 16 against Lazio Rome then in the quarterfinals against Arsenal. He also lost in Rome (1-0) and only drew in London (2-2).

Real are undefeated in 10 C1 matches this season, and have not lost any of their 22 home matches in all competitions. He has not lost at Santiago-Bernabeu in the Champions League since a quarter-final return in April 2022 against Chelsea (2-3), which still saw Real qualify. The Blues coach was then called… Thomas Tuchel.

Even the best informed Spanish journalists don’t know. Two options present themselves. Either Aurélien Tchouameni plays in the middle as a sentinel, in which case Nacho would accompany Antonio Rüdiger in central defense. Either the Frenchman moves back a notch next to Rüdiger, as he has done several times successfully this season (7 wins, 3 draws, zero defeats). It is then his comrade with the Blues, Eduardo Camavinga, who would start in his place in the middle.

The second hypothesis is all the more credible as Camavinga is in great shape. He is coming off another dazzling performance in La Liga against Cadiz last Saturday (3-0). In any case, Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde should be aligned in the middle, with Jude Bellingham in No.10. Real’s other Frenchman, left back Ferland Mendy, is also expected to start.

Cristiano Ronaldo (183 matches), Iker Casillas (177), Lionel Messi (163) and Karim Benzema (152) are the four most capped players in the history of the Champions League. Behind comes Xavi (151) who, barring any big surprises in Bayern’s starting lineup on Wednesday, will be joined by Thomas Müller (150). At 34 years old and with one year left on his contract in Munich, the German could even overtake Benzema and tickle Messi onto the podium. However, beware of his compatriot and opponent from Madrid, Toni Kroos, who is right on his heels with 149 matches played before Wednesday evening.