Previews
MAR 22.04.2014
The second semi-final of the UEFA Champions League has thrown up a historic clash that promises to be spectacular, as the defending champion, FC Bayern München, visits the Liga BBVA’s second-place team, Real Madrid CF.
The Whites, who are playing their fourth semi-final on the trot, will be fighting for a good result in the Santiago Bernabéu in order to ease their trip to the Allianz Arena in the Bavarian capital for the second leg. With a full arsenal available to him, and still unsure of whether Cristiano Ronaldo will start, Carlo Ancelotti is in no doubt about what they have to do to beat Bayern: "To win the tie we have to work hard and be compact and solid."
The German side, who will have to make do without Diego Contento, Xherdan Shaqiri and Thiago Alcántara, are bidding to become the first side to lift the Champions League trophy in two consecutive years, but to do so they will have to beat a team that Pep Guardiola knows very well and who Munich knocked out in the 2011/12 season.