Breitner: It'll be another exciting clash

Paul Breitner is a much sought-after man these days. As the first and, alongside Arjen Robben, only player to wear the shirt for both FC Bayern and Real Madrid, the FCB ambassador was in demand with both of the top clubs ahead of the first leg of the Champions League tie.

Breitner moved from Munich to Madrid in 1974 where he made 84 appearances in three years for the Spanish giants. He was in the side that won the Spanish league title twice and the Copa del Rey once – and the current Madrid team lifted the Spanish Cup for the nineteenth time last week. 

Bernabeu Clash Facts and Stats

Real Madrid against Bayern Munich - a regular fixture in the Champions League. On Wednesday night the German and Spanish giants meet for the fifteenth time in Europe’s elite club competition. Only Barcelona and AC Milan have played each other as often. fcbayern.de has delved into the stats and found a number of interesting facts ahead of the first leg of the semi-final tie.

• Bayern have won eight of the previous 14 UCL games against Real with the Madrid side coming out on top five times and the other encounter ending all square.
  
  
• The last clash was at the semi-final stage two years ago. Bayern went through to the final in Munich after a penalty shoot-out at the Bernabéu. FCB won the first leg at the Allianz Arena 2-1 thanks to a late strike by Mario Gomez and then went on to lose the return leg by the same score. Extra time failed to resolve the impasse so it all came down to spot kicks.
  
  
• Bayern and Real Madrid face each other for sixth time in the semi-finals of the Champions League or the European Cup. FCB made it to the final four times (1976, 1987, 2001, 2012) and the Spaniards once (2000). Bayern are in the Champions League semi-finals for the fourth time in the last five years and Real for the fourth time in succession - the Madrilenos were knocked out each time while Bayern went through on all three occasions.
  
  
• Bayern have not won any of their past five matches at the Bernabéu - including the 2010 final against Inter Milan. And: Real Madrid are unbeaten in their previous 17 Champions League outings at home. The last defeat came against Barcelona in the semi-final first leg in 2010/11 (0-2). The Barça coach back then was Pep Guardiola.
  
  
• Bayern have hit the woodwork eight timesin the current Champions League campaign. No other team comes close to that number.
  
  
• Real Madrid have easily the best attack in the Champions League this season with 32 goals to their credit to date. Cristiano Ronaldo has netted 14 times. Real have scored at least two goals in nine out of the last ten games with Borussia Dortmund being the only side to keep a clean sheet when they met in the quarter-final second leg tie. FCB have scored 24 goals so far.
  
  
• The two clubs meet for the twenty-first timein European competitions on Wednesday. FCB have a positive record: Bayern have won 11 of the previous 20 matches, Real have been victorious seven times and the other two games ended in draws. No other club has inflicted as many defeats on Real as FCB.
  
  
• The biggest European home defeat in Real Madrid’s history came against FC Bayern, who ran out 4-2 winners at the Bernabéu in the second round of the 1999/2000 campaign thanks to goals from Scholl, Effenberg, Fink and Sergio.
  
  
• Real Madrid and FC Bayern are the two clubs with the most appearances in Europe’s elite club competition(Champions League plus European Cup). Real have played 357 times, winning 210. FC Bayern have played 272 games in the premier club competition clocking up 151 victories along the way.

Rummenigge sets target

Pep Guardiola lost eight men for the Braunschweig trip, but with three days to go until the clash in Madrid, the injury and absentee situation has begun to improve. There was similarly positive news at Real, who had no league fixture this weekend: Cristiano Ronaldo was sufficiently recovered from a hamstring problem to complete part of the squad training session. But will he play on Wednesday? Karl-Heinz Rummenigge hopes he can: “The semi-final is a huge spectacle and it’ll be watched all over the globe. So we want to see all the best players.“

Regardless of Ronaldo’s presence or absence, the FCB chairman called for a courageous performance at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. “We need to score at least one goal. That’s what we learned from Dortmund’s meetings with Real Madrid,“ commented Rummenigge, “we’re known as la bestia negra [the black beast] down there. We need to show them la bestia negra is back.“

Prolific Pizza Completes The Set

Claudio Pizarro’s goal in Braunschweig means the Peruvian closed a gap in his personal career record: going into Saturday’s match Pizza had scored against 17 of the 18 current Bundesliga clubs, but not against the Lions from Braunschweig. The strike takes Claudio onto 83 goals in the Bundesliga and means he draws level with Paul Breitner in ninth place in Bayern’s all-time top flight scorer roll of honour. In the same ranking for the Bundesliga, the league’s most prolific non-German player lies eighth with 172 goals.

Hardworking Bayern Return to Winning Ways

After a below-par run of three league fixtures without a victory Bayern returned to winning ways in the Bundesliga on Saturday with a hard-working success away to bottom club Eintracht Braunschweig courtesy of second-half goals from Claudio Pizarro and Mario Mandzukic. The merited victory was a boost to morale in the build-up to Wednesday’s Champions League showdown away to Real Madrid.

The 32,325 full house at the Eintracht Stadium saw the relegation strugglers put up a determined and high-energy show of resistance in the first half, effectively neutralising the visitors’ greater quality. But all the running and chasing took its toll and the champions upped the ante after the break, Pizarro finally breaking the deadlock with 15 minutes to play and sub Mandzukic wrapping it up four minutes from time.

The result takes FCB onto 81 points from 31 matches, 17 clear of Dortmund in second. The Bavarians are back in action four days from now in the eagerly-awaited European first leg encounter in the Spanish capital against Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.

Up through the gears

“We’ve done what you would expect: we’ve beaten a second division club and made the final. That’s okay, no more and no less,” ventured Rummenigge. Board director for sport Matthias Sammer said he was “delighted we’re through to the final,” but was not entirely satisfied with what he saw: “We lost concentration on numerous occasions and we have to work on that.” Rummenigge voiced a similar opinion: “We’re capable of criticising our own performance and we know we have to shift up through the gears again.”

A good place to start would be Braunschweig on Saturday. “We always have to give it everything we’ve got,” urged Robben, “we need to keep on improving. You always need 100 percent commitment.” Dante called for the players “to keep our heads up and go for it.” Sammer feels the belief in the dressing room remains intact, “and we have total faith in this team. If we play like we were doing before we wrapped up the Bundesliga title, we’re capable of achieving everything.”

Müller is the main man

Thomas Müller is now the leading goalscorer in the current DFB Cup campaign. He scored from the penalty spot on 50 minutes to put Bayern 3-0 up in the 5-1 semi-final victory over Kaiserslautern on Wednesday night - his seventh cup goal this season. Müller heads the list above Roberto Firmino with six goals for Hoffenheim who have already been knocked out.