Bayern and Neuer wary of wounded Real Madrid in the Champions League

Manuel Neuer said that while Bayern Munich are in the driving seat in their Champions League quarter-final tie with Real Madrid, he acknowledged Alvaro Arbeloa’s wounded team would be dangerous at Allianz Arena.

Bayern return to home soil with a one-goal advantage following their 2-1 win in the Spanish capital last week, with Luis Diaz and Harry Kane on target for the Bundesliga leaders.

Kylian Mbappe netted a 74th-minute consolation to keep the tie firmly in the balance, and history suggests that Madrid are in with a huge chance of turning things around.

Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Madrid (three) have the joint-most away wins against Bayern across all competitions, despite only playing there four times in this period (also three wins in 17 games for Borussia Dortmund and three wins in 13 games for Borussia Monchengladbach).

In addition, Los Blancos are also unbeaten in their last four away games against Munich (W3 D1). In the Bundesliga era (since 1963-64), only Werder Bremen (five from 1989-1992 and 2007-2010) and Koln (five from 2003-2010) have managed to go five in a row without losing away to them.

The Champions League represents perhaps the last bit of silverware Madrid can realistically achieve, given they are nine points behind Barcelona in LaLiga as well as being knocked out of the Copa del Rey and losing the Supercopa de Espana final.

“It’s a great opportunity for Real to make good. But we know what that’s like, too, from when we didn’t win the title,” Neuer told reporters.

“It’s tough and difficult, especially for a club like Real Madrid. We’ve experienced that firsthand.

“It’s precisely when your back is against the wall that you can move mountains, but I don’t want to put myself too much in Real’s shoes. I’d rather focus on our own situation.

“We’re on a roll, things are going well, we’re still in the running in every competition, and our fate is in our own hands. This is a situation where we’re in the driver’s seat.”

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But Bayern are the overwhelming favourites, at least in the Opta supercomputer simulations, with Vincent Kompany’s side assigned an 83% chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Only Arsenal (34%) are handed a better chance of winning the competition in its tournament simulations than Bayern (30%).

Their victory at Estadio Bernabeu was the 23rd time they won away from home in the first leg of a two-legged knockout stage tie in the European Cup/Champions League.

Bayern have only been eliminated in one of the previous 22, suffering an away goals defeat to Inter in the 2010-11 round of 16 (won 1-0 away, lost 3-2 at home).

Neuer has won two Champions League titles with Bayern, including their latest triumph in 2019-20, and he believes the team can go all the way again this year.

“We know that a lot is possible, especially with the energy in us. I’d be happy if we got there again. We laid the foundation with the Club World Cup,” Neuer added.

“That was an important element which we took into the Supercup, then we started very well and that creates something.

“It’s the second year under Vinny Kompany, we’ve made progress – it helps when we understand the coach’s philosophy, the energy is in the team and I think it’s our time.”