It's the second legs of the Champions League semifinals this week and we'll finally find out who will make it to the San Siro final.
Both matches are fascinatingly poised and you can choose who you think will go through by voting in our match polls ...
BAYERN MUNICH: Failing to grab an away goal for a third semifinal in succession on Spanish soil in that bitterly disappointing 1-0 defeat in Madrid has left Bayern with the proverbial mountain to climb. Following exits to Real and Barcelona in previous seasons, many are questioning why this year should be any different.
Stating the obvious, starting Thomas Muller will help a great deal. Tuesday's return promises to be another cagey affair, following the same pattern as the opening joust in Madrid. Bayern will again dominate possession while the visitors will be only too happy to sit deep and strike on the counter attack. Atletico beat Barca in the quarters, but let's not go overboard about their away form. Diego Simeone's side drew blanks at Astana of Kazakhstan in the group stages and also at PSV in the round of 16.
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02-05-2016
Bahrain » Premier League 2015/2016 :
Busaiteen - Al Riffa (0:2)2 Alternative Handicap.
Manama Club -
Al-Muharraq (0:2)2 Alternative
Handicap.
Denmark » Superliga
2015/2016:
Esbjerg - Odense 1win
England » Premier
League 2015/2016:
Chelsea – Tottenham 1win (BANKER
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England » Championship
2015/2016:
Brighton – Derby (0:2)2
Alternative Handicap.
Burnley - QPR 1win(BANKER GAME)
Germany » Bundesliga
2015/2016:
Werder Bremen - VfB
Stuttgart over1 GOALS
Italy » Serie A
2015/2016:
Genoa - AS Roma 2win (BANKER
GAME)
Napoli - Atalanta 1win
Pep Guardiola must stress that his side have 90 minutes to claw back this one-goal deficit. Rushing in like a Bavarian bull in a china shop, as they did against Juventus, will not cut it this time. Patience will be the key in front of the Munich masses.
Bayern Munich 2-0 Atletico Madrid (after extra time) -- Mark Lovell
ATLETICO MADRID: Having secured a priceless 1-0 win at the Vicente Calderon courtesy of Saul Niguez's sumptuous individual effort, Atletico will travel to Munich full of confidence they can get the job done. Antoine Griezmann was back among the goals at the weekend and with the likes of Saul, Filipe Luis and the immense Augusto Fernandez able to put their feet up, they will be fresh and raring to go. The Germans need to score and that will suit Atleti just fine. They showed in the first leg they are capable of soaking up pressure -- even without Diego Godin, who could well return for Tuesday -- and hitting on the break. Yannick Carrasco's return to fitness will be key to this counter-attacking approach.
Should Godin not return, the performances of Jose Maria Gimenez, Lucas Hernandez and Stefan Savic of late will give boss Simeone sufficient confidence that his Uruguayan stalwart will not be too sorely missed.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Jan Oblak appears to have forgotten what it is like to concede, keeping six clean sheets on the spin. Gimenez had Robert Lewandowski in his pocket in the Spanish capital and if the same ensues at the Allianz, it will be Atleti who are heading through.
REAL MADRID: With serious concerns over the level of fitness of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, Real Madrid will need Gareth Bale to step up on Wednesday evening.
Ronaldo and Benzema, the team's top scorers this season, have not properly trained during the last week due to niggling injuries. Even if they end up making the lineup, they won't be in top form to face Manchester City.
However, the Welshman is in the best form of his career at Madrid. Having scored the winner in the last two La Liga matches, Bale has indeed covered for the absentees in domestic competition. Now he needs to transfer this to the Champions League, a tournament in which he's still scoreless this season.
Up front, together with Bale, Lucas Vazquez deserves a spot. The remaining one will depend on how Zinedine Zidane decides to approach City. He can choose speed with Jese Rodriguez or ball possession, with Isco or James Rodriguez.
A one-goal victory is enough for the Madridistas. Even with those untimely injuries, this squad, with the Bernabeu's support, still has enough firepower to defeat Manchester City and make the club's 14th final of the top European competition.
Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City -- Ed Alvarez
MAN
CITY:
Manuel Pellegrini sacrificed the match with Southampton on Sunday,
eventually losing 4-2 at St Mary's, and he left out big hitters like
Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero.That's not ideal preparation for the club's biggest fixture of the season, but the crumb of comfort for the fans is that City's best performances this campaign have come away from home in the Champions League.
They've had few problems in dealing with the likes of Sevilla or Paris Saint-Germain, in a 3-1 win and a 2-2 draw respectively, on the road.
This is the first European powerhouse they've faced this season, a step up from Juventus, who beat City twice in the group stages 2-1 and 1-0. There's a chance Cristiano Ronaldo still won't be fit, which would be a huge boost to Pellegrini, but unless they defend better than they did at Southampton the Portuguese won't be missed anyway.
Real Madrid have scored 18 at home in the Champions League this season, while they're still yet to concede.
They've not faced the likes of Aguero or De Bruyne yet, though -- and an away goal will swing the tie in City's favour. This could be very, very tight.
CREDIT TO:http://www.espnfc.co.uk/uefa-champions-league/2/blog/post/2861091/ronaldo-key-in-madrid-battle-with-city-can-atletico-keep-out-bayern
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