5 Key Battles that will decide Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich

#3 Thiago Alcantara vs Casemiro

Thiago and Casemiro tussle during one of their many encounters

The Brazilo-Spanish magician was not named in the starting XI for the first leg but after an early injury to Arjen Robben, he was pressed into duty and duly took over the duty of running the game from the middle of the park. He was at the heart of everything good that Bayern did on the night, pinging passes hither and thither, embarking on the occasional dribble to inject urgency into the game... and Casemiro was almost entirely overwhelmed on the night.

The Brazilian can blow hot and cold, and in the first leg it was very much cold, the timing of his tackles was off, as was his tracking of runs... with Thiago needing a good game to impress Julian Lopetegui enough to earn him a starting place in Russia, Casemiro can bet his bottom dollar that his opponent will be on his A-game. He better be on his, too.