German champions Bayern Munich will be looking to fight back after the 1-0 first leg defeat when they host Atletico Madrid at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. This is the fifth consecutive appearance in the semi-finals of the competition for Bayern, but they haven''t reached the final since 2013. In the last two editions they were beaten at this stage by Spanish opponents, Real Madrid in 2014 and Barcelona last year. Atletico are appearing in their third consecutive semi-final.
Bayern Munich have already lost two Champions League matches this season and drawn two, while the other seven were won. Their home record is particularly impressive as they have won all five matches in front of their own fans, scoring no less than 19 goals in the process. Last weekend Bayern were held to a 1-1 draw in the Bundesliga by Borussia Monchengladbach, which means their title celebrations have been postponed for at least a week. Arjen Robben and Holger Badstuber remain sidelined, while Sebastian Rode is in doubt. Jerome Boateng should be able to play after having featured last weekend.
Atletico Madrid have an identical record in this season's Champions League: 7 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats. The impenetrable defence was their main strength as they have kept clean sheets in 7 matches out of 11, including the last two. They have not won any of their last two away matches though: 0-0 at PSV and a 2-1 defeat at Barcelona in the quarter-finals. Last weekend Atletico squeezed past Rayo Vallecano 1-0, a result which allowed them to remained tied with Barcelona at the top of the Primera Liga table. Tiago is out of contention for Atletico, but Diego Godin and Yannick Carrasco should be fit again.
Probable line-ups:
Bayern: Neuer - Bernat, Benatia, Boateng, Lahm - Alonso - Muller, Vidal, Thiago, Costa - Lewandowski
Atletico: Oblak - Felipe Luis, Savic, Godin, Juanfran - Koke, Fernandez, Gabi, Saul - Torres, Griezmann
My prediction: Bayern to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Bayern win - 1.65 Draw - 3.90 Atletico win - 6.00
sharpe
7 years ago
Atletico has a great Champions League campaign and was able to eliminate the two biggest favourites in the tournament - Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Hopefully they will do the same to Real and lift the cup in the end because I really do believe they are the team which most deserves that.
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mannixx
7 years ago
yesterday footbal won (Leicester) , today anti fotball won. Bayern definitely deserved to go to final. Now we are gonna watch boring finals and it doesnt metter who will win tomorow. Referee doesnt have filling for cards, he should show a lots of cards for time wasting...
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milo?.sekuli?
7 years ago
It's amazing how Atletico plays this game, and not only this season. A similar story as Leicester's. Club with such a small budget compared to the other top teams, plays fantastic in the Champions League and in the Spanish league. These days football is amazing, a real fairy tale. I'm rooting for Atletico. They will have...
It's amazing how Atletico plays this game, and not only this season. A similar story as Leicester's. Club with such a small budget compared to the other top teams, plays fantastic in the Champions League and in the Spanish league. These days football is amazing, a real fairy tale. I'm rooting for Atletico. They will have plenty of opportunites with counter-attacks tonight. Vamos! :)
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