Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid: 5 reasons why Die Roten will win against Los Blancos

Real Madrid are the most successful team in the Champions League, having won 11 trophies so far in the competition. The All Whites are the favourites against most teams but German champions Bayern Munich are not just any team.

The Bundesliga giants seem to have found an extra dimension under Ancelotti and they are arguably the favourites tonight when the teams meet in the Allianz arena. Probably the two strongest teams in the competition, it promises to be an exciting and unpredictable encounter when the student, Zidane, meets his master, Ancelotti.

Without much ado, let us take a look at why Bayern Munich are the favourites to win against Real Madrid in tonight’s marquee Champions League encounter:

#5 Carlo Ancelotti is more tactically aware than Zinedine Zidane

Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane has made a blistering start to his managerial career. Having famously guided Los Blancos to their historic 11^th title last season, Zidane is also favourite to win the La Liga title this season.

However, during the course of this season, there have been various questions asked about his tactical awareness and versatility. While there is no denying the man management skills and the respect he gets from his players, the tactical evolution of the team has been pretty moderate. Also, Zidane relies a lot on his core group of players and he does not take quick decisions when some of them have bad games.

Carlo Ancelotti, on the other hand, is arguably the best manager in world football at the moment. Don Carlo has been successful wherever he has managed and the Italian has plenty of experience having won the Champions League thrice in his career so far.

Capable of adapting to different situations and tactically very astute, Ancelotti certainly has an edge over Zidane in terms of tactical nous and the veteran Italian might have a few tricks which will stump his apprentice tonight.

#4 Shaky Real Madrid defence and injury to key players

Nacho has been extremely impressive for Real Madrid this season, but there is no denying the fact that the likes of Pepe and Varane will be missed by Real Madrid. While Varane suffered an injury earlier this month, Pepe’s season is all but over after he hobbled off against rivals Atletico Madrid.

Sergio Ramos has time and again been a big match player for Los Blancos, but without Pepe and Varane, there is plenty of doubt whether the Real Madrid captain is good enough defensively. The Spaniard is a true leader on and off the pitch, but the Bayern Munich forwards will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing Sergio Ramos and Nacho instead of either Pepe or Varane.

Also, Madrid are not exactly rock solid defensively. The Spanish giants have kept only 8 clean sheets this season and with Keylor Navas struggling, it will need nothing more than a miracle for the Real Madrid backline to keep Bayern Munich at bay.

#3 Bayern Munich’s unbelievable record at home

Carlo Ancelotti is yet to taste defeat at the Allianz arena with Bayern Munich. Ever since the Italian has taken over, Die Roten have been absolutely invincible at home with only 3 teams managing to even draw against the Bundesliga giants.

Bayern always seem to be at their best in the Allianz arena and always seem to lift their game during big occasions. While Real Madrid have established themselves as the team to beat in Europe, they are going to have a tough time at Bavaria.

The fans play a huge role as well and the Allianz arena is a cauldron of noise during Champions League nights. The atmosphere is daunting and even players of the calibre of Ronaldo and Bale will be affected slightly by the home crowd’s passionate support. With Real recovering from a brutal 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich will be confident of getting a positive result at home.

Quite simply put, Bayern like Juventus just do not lose at home.

#2 Incredible depth in attack for Bayern Munich

It is not often that a team boasting of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are forced to deal with a team having a better attack. However, in Bayern Munich, the Real Madrid backline will have their toughest challenge till date.

Blessed with immense attacking talent and full of world class stars, Bayern Munich have 6 truly world class stars for only 3 positions. The likes of Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski, Douglas Costa, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller are all capable of winning matches single-handedly for the Bundesliga giants.

Each of the above-mentioned players bring something different to the team and it looks almost impossible for the defending champions to restrict this Bayern Munich squad. With Lewandowski supposedly back in training after a minor knock, the Madrid backline will be trembling at the thought of defending against probably the most complete and versatile attack in world football at the moment.

#1 Real Madrid’s famed ‘BBC’ trio not at their best at the moment

Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo are capable of ripping opposition defences apart, but this season, the trio have been far from their best. While Karim Benzema has struggled to find his goalscoring form this season, Gareth Bale has struggled with both form and fitness this season.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s incredible goalscoring exploits have also reduced compared to his usual high standards and Madrid recently have been scraping through most of their matches.

In fact, the cohesion between the BBC trio has also reduced so much, that there have been talks of dropping Benzema to the bench and start Alvaro Morata instead for this match. Bale, on the other hand, will need to lift his game soon. The Welshman had a terrible game against Atletico Madrid and was probably the worst player on the pitch.

All this puts more pressure on Cristiano Ronaldo. The 32-year-old still remains incredibly dangerous for Real Madrid, but even Ronaldo will find it tough to singlehandedly take the attack to Bayern Munich at Allianz arena tonight.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 3-1 Real Madrid