5 things to look forward to as the Champions League restarts

#2 Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid – A historic rivalry renewed

Zinedine Zidane has played under Carlo Ancelotti and was his assistant at Real Madrid

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have faced each other 22 times till date, with the Bavarians slightly edging the Santiago Bernabeu outfit in the head to head record. The Bavarians have won 11 out of the 22 games against Los Blancos, while 2 games have seen the two teams share the spoils. Real Madrid have came out on top on 9 occasions and will be hoping to be even on head-to-head record by the end of this stage of the competition.

It is a battle between a Bayern Munich side – who are on course to win their 5^th consecutive Bundesliga title and find themselves 10 points clear at the top with 6 games left to play – and a Real Madrid side who are hoping to end Barcelona’s recent dominance in La Liga by lifting their first title since 2011-12.

However, that is not all that sets this tie apart, it is a clash between Carlo Ancelotti and his former assistant Zinedine Zidane, who played under Ancelotti at Juventus before he became the then most expensive transfer in the world when he left the Old Lady for Los Blancos.

To add to that, the last time Real Madrid and Bayern Munich played each other was in the semi-final of the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League, when Pep Guardiola’s side were handed a 5-0 defeat over the two legs by Ancelotti’s Madrid, which included a 4-0 defeat of the Bavarians in their own backyard.