Successfully maintaining their four points gap with Barcelona in La Liga after beating Sporting Gijon on the weekend, Real Madrid are set to really test their strength against Bayern Munich this Tuesday evening.
Jose Mourinho’ side will try to step aside their poor record meeting against Bayern in Germany, as Mourinho claims that history won’t be a determining factor for Los Blancos in that clasch, considering their ambition in getting through the semifinal is bigger.
Without any attempt to belittle their Bavarian opponents, Mourinho staged his confidence over his team’s current strength, by completely ignoring previous records between both teams in Germany which haven’t been favorable for Los Blancos. However, on paper, the Spaniard are being slightly favorite to reach the final this year, although getting a result at Allianz Arena is still being considered difficult for the Galacticos.
“The past is all about meaningless numbers,Bayern have the special motivation as the final is in Munich, but we have the motivation of being here for the second year in a row. We will see what happens. Bayern will play with a lot of heart, which is nice in football, but they can also play very well. I think that this match will be more tactical than normal and that it will be a great game,” Mourinho stated.
Mourinho’s experience in beating Bayern Munich couple seasons ago with Inter Milan at the Champions League final, might be one of his source of confidence in handling the Bavarians’ this time around. However, knowing that the Bundesliga title is getting further from their reach, Juup Heynckes’s boys will be giving their all in the competition, eying for a place in the final which is staged at their own park.
That special motivation might play a part in helping Bayern getting the edge over Madrid, especially since Los Blancos will have another important match on the weekend, where they’ll play Barcelona in a decisive league clash. On the pitch, both teams have pretty equal quality and even formation, although the Spaniard does have a little bit individual edged compared to Heynckes’ team but that probably won’t matter much in such a tight game.
Intriguing indeed to see whether Mourinho will be giving their all in erasing the previous poor away record against Bayern, or Los Blancos are simply playing save before preparing an epic fight at Santiago Bernebau. Whatever options that Madrid will take, the Portuguese tactician’s future along with his team might be decided in this weeks, where their European credentials along with La Liga title are at stake.
