Key events
2 min: After all my pre-match chat about Neuer, that was always going to happen. Cheers, Manuel.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 0-1 Real Madrid (Arda Güler 1, 2-2 agg)
Neuer comes out of his goal to meet an easy back-pass but gifts the ball straight to Arda Güler, who floats a first-time finish into the empty net from 40 yards out! What a start!
Peeeeeeeeeep!
We are underway in Bavaria!
Here come the teams! The two captains, Real’s Valverde and Bayern’s Neuer, shake hands in the centre circle.
Kylian Mbappé has a plaster on his forehead: the Frenchman had three stitches put in over the weekend after a blow to the head.
There is a minute’s silence for Real Madrid legend José Emilio Santamaría, who died earlier today at the age of 96. There are a couple of rogue shouts from the crowd, and Mbappé looks very unimpressed.
If we are talking about goalkeepersThibaut Courtois ongoing absence continues to be a huge blow for Real Madrid. Lunin looked shaky with his feet in the first leg and I also wonder if Courtois would have got to Kane’s shot for Bayern’s second goal? Lunin starts again today, with Courtois sidelined with a thigh problem.
“Yes Neuer is a great keeperbut when you pitch him against Yashin, Banks, you’re really not comparing like with like,” emails Jeremy Boyce. “Chalk and cheese. Yashin, famously, could pick the ball up off the ground with one hand. Banks was a genius, saw him live once, crap match, Everton v Stoke, 0-0, the only moment of magic was a save he made. Neither of these would have been able to ‘play out from the back’ or any of that because it was a different game then. You could still pass back to the keeper! Neuer is great, but really? Up there with those greats from a bygone age? If you’re looking for a great German goalkeeper how about Trautmann as the GGKOAT ? How many others have played on with a broken neck?
No doubting that Trautmann is a legend for different reasons but he doesn’t touch Kahn or Sepp Maier, never mind Neuer. However, Jeremy does make a good point in comparing players from such different eras. It’s effectively impossible, as it was a completely different game and is just a subjective choice. But I’d have 1. Yashin 2. Neuer 3. Buffon (for what it’s worth).
Last week, we saw the worst and best of Trent Alexander-Arnold. The English right-back allowed Luis Diaz to wriggle free (after an admittedly excellent through ball from Gnabry) to score Bayern’s opener in Madrid, and looked a little nervy in the first half, but he was full of running after half time and got forward well before a world-class assist for Mbappé to get Real back into the tie.
I’m not convinced that he should be England’s starting right-back at the World Cup (Reece James surely, assuming he is fit), but it would be madness not to take him in the squad. He’s a unique footballer and if England are chasing a game and need a goal, he can provide a moment of magic.
Re the best goalkeepers of all timehere’s an email from Robin Sebastian Fjeldstad.
“Rogério Ceni has 129 goals in 1209 games. Neuer has 0 goals in 822 games. Debate over.”
This was Ceni at 40 years old (in 2013), by the way. Nae bad.
Nearly 20 minutes to go but the Allianz Arena is absolutely rocking, and has been for over an hour, with Bayern’s ultras getting into the stadium nice and early. They have already announced plans for tifos as the teams come out for kick-off, so we’ll keep you updated on that.
Is Manuel Neuer the greatest goalkeeper of all time? Probably not, that honour is still with Lev Yashin (I think), but the German is (for me) a comfortable second. Neuer made nine saves in the first leg of this tie – two of them were stunning stops – and proved again that he is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the age of 40. Other keepers have played into their forties, but it has felt like something of a gimmick. Neuer is still playing at the highest level because he’s simply too good to leave out.
His quality, trophy cabinet, longevity and the innovation that he has brought to the game (particularly in his early years) in terms of coming out from goal and playing out with his feet sees him (in my opinion) move ahead of other greats like Casillas, Buffon, Banks, Zoff, Schmeichel.
Neuer makes his 137th Champions League start for the club in this second, moving ahead of Lionel Messi (136). Only Casillas (149) has more and should Neuer extend his contract and play next season – and there seems no reason why that woudn’t be the case – he should catch the Spaniard.
Some news: José Emilio Santamaríaa four-time European Cup winner with Real Madrid, died earlier today at the age of 96. The Uruguay international joined Madrid in 1957 and went on to lift one Intercontinental Cup, six La Liga titles and one Spanish Cup, making 337 appearances over nine seasons.
“Santamaria will always be remembered as one of the great symbols of our club. He was part of a team that will remain in the memory of all madridistas and football fans worldwide,” Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said in a statement.
Santamaria played 25 times for Uruguay and also represented Spain on 16 occasions. He featured for Uruguay at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland and later appeared for Spain at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
After his playing career, he managed Spain’s Olympic team at the 1968 Mexico City Games and the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He was also Spain’s coach at the 1982 World Cup on home soil and spent seven seasons in charge of Espanyol, overseeing 252 matches. Reuters
You can now probably add last week’s first leg to this list.
As mentionedit was a contrasting weekend for both sides, both of whom were much changed. Real Madrid extended their winless run to three games in all competitions to help Barcelona to the verge of the La Liga title, while Bayern crushed St Pauli 5-0 in the Bundesliga to set an all-time season scoring record while also extending their lead at the top to 12 points with five games left to play.
Team news!
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Laimer; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Gnabry, Díaz; Kane.
Subs: Prescott, Kim Min-jae, Urbig, Goretzka, Musiala, Jackson, Davies, Ito, Guerreiro.
Real Madrid (4-4-2, possibly shifting to a 4-3-3): Lunin; Alexander-Arnold, Rüdiger, Militão, Mendy; Arda Güler, Valverde, Bellingham, Brahim; Mbappé, Viní.
Subs: Fran Gonzalez, Javi Navarro, Carvajal, Alaba, Camavinga, Gonzalo, Carreras, Ceballos, Fran Garcia, Huijsen, Mastantuono, Thiago.
It’s the same Bayern XI that started last week at the Bernabéu. Tom Bischof has suffered a small muscle fiber tear in his left calf so he is out of Kompany’s squad.
Álvaro Arbeloa has fielded an unbelievably attacking starting XI. Remember, Aurélien Tchouaméni is suspended but Camavinga is left on the bench in favour of Brahim Díaz. After being rested for the 1-1 draw against Girona at the weekend, Trent Alexander-Arnold starts at right back and Mendy is preferred at left back to Fran García and Álvaro Carreras.
Preamble
It doesn’t get a lot bigger or better than this. The outright favourites this season (Bayern) against the most successful European side of all time (Real). A mouthwatering quarter-final between two gigantic behemoths to see who will face the reigning champions (PSG) in the semi-final. Double woof.
The quarter-finals might just be the best part of the Champions League – close enough to the final to get excited of glory but far enough from the tournament climax to still have any number of unknowns and permutations, the games come thick and fast (you can also follow Arsenal v Sporting tonight right here) and there is just a solitary goal separating Bayern and Real Madrid in this tie, with the Germans earning a 2-1 first-leg victory last week at the Bernabéu. Yes, it was a stunning result for Vincent Kompany’s side but Bayern might be frustrated their advantage is not bigger. One thing is for sure, you never, ever count out Real Madrid in this competition.
There is even an English angle on the most continental of evenings, with Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold all hoping to make their mark on the biggest of stages – the Bayern striker has never won Europe’s biggest prize while Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold will want to deliver timely reminders about their England credentials.
Bellingham was asked on Tuesday about Kane’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or:
double quotation mark It seems like they’re going to win the Bundesliga, which obviously hurts me considering my brother is at Dortmund, and I was a player there,” Bellingham replied. “Again, it depends on what he does with England, and hopefully, we can try and stop them from winning the Champions League tomorrow, which will obviously have a big effect.He’s a sensational player. It’s a pleasure to play with him with the national team. I think he’s amazing. He’s showing everyone the last two or three years he’s reached a level where he’s almost perfected his craft in terms of what he can do as a striker.”
It’s going to be quite the show at the Allianz Arena.
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
