Real Madrid welcome Bayern Munich to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. The two sides have faced one another more than any other pairing in the competition's history, with Tuesday's clash marking their 29th meeting.
Despite Los Blancos enduring a rather mixed campaign, most notably featuring the dismissal of Xabi Alonso and appointment of Alvaro Arbeloa, they remain in contention in both La Liga and the Champions League.
However, Los Blancos' chances of lifting the La Liga title were dealt a blow following their 2-1 loss to Mallorca at the weekend, which allowed Barcelona to extend their lead to seven points, meaning Real Madrid may turn their focus to their European speciality.
After narrowly missing out on a top-eight place in the league phase, Real Madrid narrowly dispatched Benfica 3-1 in the knockout playoff round before sensationally defeating Manchester City 5-1 in the last 16.
Real Madrid were subsequently drawn against a familiar foe in the quarter-finals, with Los Blancos set to face Bayern Munich for the 29th time - the most-played fixture in the competition's history.
Real Madrid have had the slight upper hand in the matchup, winning 13 and losing 11 of their 28 meetings, while they remain unbeaten in their last nine clashes, with seven wins and two draws.
Bayern Munich, however, come into the quarter-final matchup as arguably the continent's best-performing side this season, with Vincent Kompany's men among the favourites to lift the Champions League trophy.
The Bavarians have lost just two of 43 matches across all competitions this season, with their last defeat coming in a 2-1 loss to Augsburg in the Bundesliga on January 24.
Unlike Real Madrid, Bayern Munich booked their place directly into the last 16 thanks to a second-placed finish in the league phase, only finishing behind Arsenal - who they lost 3-1 to on matchday five.
Bayern Munich went on to make comfortable work of their last 16 clash with Atalanta, recording an emphatic 10-2 aggregate victory over the Italian side.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich hold an impressive nine-point lead at the top of the table, which allowed Kompany to rotate his side in their dramatic late win against Freiburg at the weekend.
Despite the rotation, as well as falling 2-0 behind, Bayern Munich ultimately extended their unbeaten streak with a stunning 3-2 comeback triumph, thanks to a late brace from Tom Bischof and a 99th-minute winner from Lennart Karl.
That result, which extended their unbeaten run to 13 games, will give Bayern Munich great confidence heading into this clash, and they will be eager to end their winless streak against Los Blancos and claim the advantage before the second leg on home soil.
Head-to-Head History
Madrid have lost just one of the last eight H2Hs inside 90 minutes (W5, D2), scoring exactly twice in the last four of those (W2, D2), and have only lost one of the last eight meetings they hosted (W6, D1: results at 90 minutes).
Hot Stats and Streaks
Seven of Madrid’s last eight UCL games featured over 2.5 goals.
Madrid haven’t failed to score in a UCL home match since December 2018!
Bayern have scored an average of 3.2 goals per UCL game this season.
Eight of Bayern’s last nine competitive away fixtures saw both teams score.
Madrid may have the edge in the H2H stakes, but Bayern’s stronger form suggests backing a draw might be an option worth considering.
Bayern are the only team with more UCL quarter-final appearances than Madrid (24), yet that offers no guarantee of success as no team has fallen at this stage more often than the six-time European champions (10)! They can draw confidence from entering this fixture in better form than their hosts, although they left it late to come from two goals down to beat Freiburg 3-2 on Saturday to maintain their nine-point lead at the Bundesliga summit and extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12 matches (W10, D2).
