Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho will be looking to inch closer toward a European record of becoming the first coach to win three Champions League titles with different clubs when he faces German side Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena tomorrow in the first of their two legged semi final tie.
Madrid are coming off a impressive 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon while their hosts will be looking to put their Bundesliga troubles behind them with a win after being held to a barren draw with Mainz over the weekend.
Here are a few stats worth considering ahead of this fixture. Madrid are the favourites to win this tie considering their recent form. They enter tomorrow’s fixture on an 18 match unbeaten run 14 of them being wins and 4 draws. Bayern on the other hand have an impressive home record and are very tough to beat at the Allianz Arena having posted a 13-1-2 home record in the Bundesliga thus far in 2011-12.
Thanks to their super trio of Ronaldo, Benzema and Higuain, Madrid have scored an impressive 44 away goals in the Primera Division this season while only conceding 11. However, that won’t be enough to scare off a Bayern side that has the second highest scorer in the Champions League this season – Mario Gomez.
Gomez has scored an impressive 11 goals so far and after being rested on Saturday, the striker should no doubt be in top form tomorrow night. His collective average for the 2011-2012 season is 46 goals in 52 appearances for club and country.
Madrid’s main man Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for the 2011/2012 season is equally impressive with the Portuguese international having scored 63 goals and 14 assists in 59 games for club and country.
Both teams have won the cup a combined 13 times with Bayern most recent victory coming in 2001 with Madrid winning it for the 9th time just a year later. There really is nothing to separate these two teams and statistics will count for nothing when the kick-off whistle blows tomorrow.
My prediction for this match? A 1-1 draw.
photo credit © werner boehm *
