FC Bayern München take on Club Atletico de Madrid at the Estadio Vicente Calderon in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.
Both teams head into Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg at the Vicente Calderon in fine form.
Atleti are currently level on 82 points with league leaders Barcelona, while their local rivals Real sit one point behind in third position. Four days prior to the teams’ semi-final first leg, the Rojiblancos posted a narrow but merited 1-0 victory over FC Malaga.
Atletico progressed into the semi-finals of the Champions League 3-1 aggregate victory over Barcelona. Simeone’s team will be brimming with confidence after knocking out the competition holders in the quarter-finals, although Diego Godín’s absence is a blow for the Rojiblancos.
In its last League match prior to the first leg match of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, Bayern Munich beat Hertha Berlin by 0-2, asserting itself as the leader of a Bundesliga that it leads with 81 points, seven more than Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern were tested more than people may have expected when they faced Benfica in quarter-finals. A second-minute goal from Arturo Vidal was the only thing to separate the clubs in the first leg in Germany, while the Portuguese outfit pulled back a 2-2 draw on home turf in the second leg. Bayern set a new club record by advancing to the Champions League last four: for the first time ever, the Bavarians made the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition for the fifth time in a row.
Bayern have not had the best of luck on Spanish soil down the years. They lost to Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona in the first leg of their last-four ties in the previous two seasons, and have won just twice – while losing eight – in 12 trips to Spain for a competitive fixture.
Bayern against Atlético is the duel between the best attack and the strongest defence in this season’s Champions League campaign. Munich boast the most goals in the competition with 28. Atlético have only scored half as often, but conceded a mere five goals, topping the defensive rankings together with their local rivals Real. Bayern have conceded nine goals so far.
Head to Head
Atletico Madrid and Bayern München only met once before. After equalising late on in the 1974 European Cup final, Bayern won the replay 4-0, the first of three successive triumphs in the competition for the club.
In terms of their past meetings with German opposition, Atletico have done well having gone unbeaten in their last five home matches and losing just one of their last seven games overall.
FC Bayern cross swords with a Spanish side in a European match for the 50th time on Wednesday evening. The record is stacked in favour of the German record champions with 23 wins, 14 defeats and 12 draws.
Meanwhile, Guardiola and Simeone have only ever faced off once. The current Bayern coach came out on top by a 2-1 scoreline on 26 February 2012 in La Liga.
Match Facts
Team News
Atletico Madrid
Diego Godín aggravated a hamstring injury during Atlético’s 1-0 win at Athletic, two weeks after recovering from the same problem, and did not feature against Málaga.
Bayern München
Only Robben and Holger Badstuber are unavailable to the Bayern coach ahead of the first leg at the Calderon, with the potential return of Jerome Boateng further good news.
Possible line-ups
Atletico: Oblak – Juanfran, Gimenez, Lucas, Filipe Luis – Koke, Gabi, Augusto, Saul Niguez – Griezmann, Fernando Torres
Bayern: Neuer – Lahm, Kimmich, Javi Martinez, Alaba – Xabi Alonso – Douglas Costa, T. Müller, Vidal, Ribery – Lewandowski.
From : SS.com
