Real Madrid hope Champions League magic halts Bayern machine, Arsenal face character test
German side are arguably favourites to lift trophy but history is on La Liga team’s side, while Gunners must recover after straight losses
Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich visit Real Madrid on Tuesday in the Champions League quarter-finals high on confidence and looking like Europe’s most complete side, bolstered by the likely return of superstar striker Harry Kane.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta has urged his shell-shocked Arsenal to embrace a major test of their character as they seek to recover from a pair of devastating defeats in their quarter-final at Sporting Lisbon.
Record 15-time winners Madrid have endured a difficult season, plagued by inconsistency, but have made a habit of pulling off the unexpected in this competition.
Just as it seemed their well of Champions League magic was running dry, Madrid produced their best performance of the season to crush Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the last 16.
Despite Madrid’s prestige and troupe of attacking stars – Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, and Jude Bellingham included, as well as City hat-trick hero Federico Valverde – Bayern are arguably favourites to lift the trophy.
“It would be presumptuous to assume that we’ll definitely advance,” said honorary Bayern president Uli Hoeness. “But we haven’t had such great chances in terms of the playing quality as we have this year in a long time.”