Madrid’s semi-final home record gives Bayern added advantage
Published:Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid are priced at 3/1 to win the Champions League, a decade after Zinedine Zidane’s exquisite volley at Hampden Park last brought them European glory.
The Spanish side conceded a late goal to Bayern hitman Mario Gomez, as the hosts secured a slender 2-1 advantage in Munich’s Allianz Arena, leaving the 2010 finalists in with a 7/2 chance of lifting the trophy in their home stadium.
When these two last met in a Champions League semi-final back in 2001, Bayern also won the home leg of the tie 2-1 but in this case they had already recorded a 1-0 success in the Bernabeau, a scoreline that may haunt the Madrid faithful for the return leg of this year’s competition.
Madrid have a poor record in their most recent home legs of European Cup semis, having only won one of their meetings on home soil at this stage at the last four attempts, even when they lifted the trophy in 2002 it was their away result against fellow countrymen Barcelona that saw them through.
On a brighter note for Los Blancos, they have beaten their opponents on the last three occasions they have locked horns in Madrid.
The manager himself, despite winning two European crowns, also holds a poor record in the second leg of semi-finals, having presided over a team in a semi five times, the Portuguese has only one victory to his name, a 1-0 win for Porto back in 2004 as they went on to lift the trophy.
That result would be enough for Los Merengues, and Mourinho’s last meeting with the German club in this competition resulted in him receiving his second Champions League medal, as his Inter side cruised to victory against the then German champions and a repeat of the 2-0 scoreline would be the perfect tonic.
